Kelly A. Walters Joins Supertel as President & CEO
APRIL 03, 2009 - Supertel Hospitality, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPPR), a real estate investment trust (REIT) which owns 122 hotels in 24 states, today announced that Kelly A. Walters will join the company as president and chief executive officer, effective April 14, 2009. Walters was a senior vice president at Investors Real Estate Trust (NASDAQ: IRET). He will succeed Paul J. Schulte, the current president and chief executive officer. Schulte, 75, will continue as chairman of the board.
"Kelly brings a wealth of commercial real estate expertise and a strong relationship with the investment community, which will serve Supertel shareholders well in this challenging economic climate," Schulte said. "He is a proven leader who has consistently generated strong business results throughout his career."
"Supertel's experienced management team has produced an excellent track record as limited-service hotel owners, and I am very confident with our current business model within the hospitality sector," Walters said. "Our biggest challenge remains the capital markets and our balance sheet. Over the past year, the senior management team has worked diligently and effectively on the company's plan to permanently strengthen the balance sheet. Improving our financial position will remain our primary focus through 2009 and into 2010. Then, on a very measured and selective basis, we plan to pursue opportunities in other commercial real estate segments, with the goal of obtaining accretive risk-adjusted returns that will add balance to our hospitality portfolio and ultimately bring more value to our shareholders."
Walters, 48, is a former senior vice president for North Dakota-based Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET), a self-advised equity real estate investment trust with nearly 250 multi-family residential, office, medical, industrial and retail commercial real estate assets.
Previously, he was senior vice president of Omaha-based Magnum Resources, Inc., a privately held real estate investment and operating company. In 2006, IRET acquired a portion of Magnum's portfolio in a UPREIT transaction valued at $140 million, and Walters joined the company's senior management team at the close of the transaction. At various times throughout his 13-year tenure with the two companies, he was responsible for investment strategy, acquisitions and dispositions, capital markets activities, and asset management.
Prior to joining Magnum Resources, Walters was a senior portfolio manager at Brown Brothers Harriman & Company in Chicago. He also held investment positions with Peter Kiewit Sons' Inc. He holds a B.S./B.A. degree in banking and finance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a MBA from the University of Nebraska.
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