Pphe Hotel Regulatory News (PPH)

20 Feb 2008 13:04

Park Plaza Hotels Limited20 February 2008 20 February 2008 Park Plaza Hotels Limited ("Park Plaza" or the "Group") Acquisition of Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel Park Plaza Hotels Limited, an owner and operator of 4-star hotels in Europe andthe Middle East, has today acquired, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, EuroSea Hotels N.V., the 66 per cent of Marlbray Limited ("Marlbray") it does notalready own. As a result, the Group has increased its ownership interest in thePark Plaza Westminster Bridge project to 100 per cent. The prestigious Park Plaza Westminster Bridge apart-hotel, which Park Plaza willalso operate, is expected to open in 2010. It is situated at the southern endof Westminster Bridge close to the recently opened Park Plaza County Hall andWaterloo Station. As previously announced, planning permission for anadditional floor will result in the hotel having 1,037 apartments whencompleted, which will make it one of the largest hotels in London, with state ofthe art conferencing facilities. A £221 million facility for the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge project has beenobtained from Bank Hapoalim; the facility is intended to be repaid out ofpre-sales of apartments. To date, 820 of the 1,037 apartments have beenpre-sold at an aggregate price payable on completion of the hotel ofapproximately £234 million. As disclosed in Park Plaza's admission document, Savills appraised the value ofthe Park Plaza Westminster Bridge project as at 5 June 2007 at €125 million.The Directors of Park Plaza believe that the current value of the project is notless than this appraisal value. This does not take into account the corporationtax charge which will arise when the underlying apartments are sold. As at 31December 2007, the unaudited net asset value of Marlbray as shown in the ParkPlaza accounts was €18.15 million. For the year ended 31 December 2007, duringwhich the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge project was in the construction phase,Marlbray made an unaudited loss of €0.03 million. The total cost of the acquisition of the 66 per cent of Marlbray, including thesettlement of a fee payable by Marlbray to Irish Nationwide Building Society(which provided finance for the early stages of the project), is approximately£10.27 million in cash and the issue of 735,000 new ordinary shares in ParkPlaza. Application has been made to AIM for the admission to trading of the 735,000 newordinary shares being issued in connection with the acquisition. The shares areexpected to be admitted to trading on 21 February 2008. Boris Ivesha, CEO of Park Plaza, said: "We are delighted to have secured 100% ownership interest in the Park PlazaWestminster Bridge property. This prestigious development in the centre ofLondon remains on track to open in 2010 and is expected to add an additional1,037 rooms to our portfolio. The sale of the apartments during the developmentphase has already attracted significant interest from investors and we areextremely pleased with the number of pre-sales achieved to date. When complete,Park Plaza Westminster Bridge will be one of the largest hotels in London andwill offer customers unrivalled state of the art facilities." www.parkplazahotels.net http://www.1westminsterbridge.com/ Enquiries: Park Plaza Tel: +44 (0)20 7034 4800Boris Ivesha/Chen Moravsky Hudson SandlerJessica Rouleau/Wendy Baker Tel: +44 (0) 20 7796 4133 Notes to Editors Park Plaza Hotels Limited is owner, operator and franchisor of hotels in Europe,the Middle East and Africa. The Group operates under two brands: Park PlazaHotels & Resorts (part of Carlson Hotels Worldwide), over which the Group hasexclusive rights in 56 countries in EMEA and art'otel, a brand to which theGroup has exclusive worldwide rights. Park Plaza Hotels also manages the luxuryall-suite Plaza on the River - Club and Residence, London. Through it strategic partnership with Carlson, one of the world's largest traveland hospitality companies, Park Plaza Hotels has access to Carlson's powerfulreservation and distribution system, airline partnerships with 19 airlines,loyalty programmes such as goldpointsplusSM for guests and Look To Book(R) fortravel agents, and cross-selling opportunities. There are currently 26 properties and over 4,700 rooms in the Group's portfolio.By 2010, the Group's committed projects and territorial franchise agreementsare expected to increase the number of rooms to over 8,000. Projects already under development include Park Plaza Marrakech (2009), art'otelcologne (2009) and Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London (2010). In July 2007, Park Plaza Hotels floated on London's AIM Stock Market. Marlbury Limited is the developer of the prestigious apart-hotel at the southernend of Westminster Bridge close to Park Plaza County Hall and Waterloo railwaystation. Prior to this transaction, Park Plaza had a 33 per cent ownershipinterest in Marlbray Limited and the remaining two-thirds were held by GalliardHomes, Paul White and Alex Cope. END This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange