Ashford and Special Servicer to Transfer Hyatt Regency Dearborn to Receivership
DALLAS, TX, December 9, 2009 - Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE: AHT) today announced that the Company and the special servicer who is administering the $29.1 million first mortgage on the Company's Hyatt Regency Dearborn have mutually agreed to transfer the Company's possession and control of the hotel to a court-appointed receiver, effective December 3, 2009. The Company has been fully cooperating with the servicer for a consensual foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure since June 2009.
As a result of the transfer, the Company deconsolidated the hotel from its financial reporting, including the $28.9 million hotel asset (previously impaired by $10.9 million in the second quarter of 2009) and the hotel's $29.1 million mortgage indebtedness, and will recognize a gain on the extinguishment of debt. Additionally, the Company will reclassify the hotel's results of operations through the effective date of the transfer to discontinued operations on its statement of operations.
The transfer also eliminates the remaining 2010 debt maturity for the Company, leaving the Company with no debt maturities in 2010 and $229.0 million maturing in 2011. The Company's average current interest rate on its total indebtedness is 3.62%. As of September 30, 2009 the Company had $197.9 million of unrestricted cash available.
Ashford Hospitality Trust is a self-administered real estate investment trust focused on investing in the hospitality industry across all segments and at all levels of the capital structure, including direct hotel investments, second mortgages, mezzanine loans and sale-leaseback transactions.
These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, without limitation: general volatility of the capital markets and the market price of our common stock; changes in our business or investment strategy; availability, terms and deployment of capital; availability of qualified personnel; changes in our industry and the market in which we operate, interest rates or the general economy; and the degree and nature of our competition.
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