DALLAS— Furthering its strategy to become a proprietary-branded hotel operating company, Wyndham International has closed the sale of the Ramada Beachwood, Ohio. All net proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down debt. This follows last weeks announcement of a definitive agreement with Westbrook Hotel Partners IV, LLC to sell 13 hotel properties for approximately $447 million, expected to close within three to four months. At the beginning of 1999, Wyndham International identified 152 non-strategic, owned assets. With this sale, the company will have successfully disposed of 99 of those properties, raising approximately $1.4 billion. In addition, Wyndham International has converted another 16 hotels to the proprietary Wyndham brand, leaving 37 non-strategic assets to sell. Wyndham International is continuing to discuss the sale of the remaining non-strategic assets with Westbrook and other parties. As previously announced, Wyndham International has eliminated all $287 million in debt maturities coming due during 2002. Wyndham has already begun addressing the subsequent maturities due June 2003 and beyond. Despite the sluggish economy, Wyndham has approximately $255 million in excess liquidity. Previously, Wyndham International announced that it had received notification from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that the Companys share trading price has fallen below the continued listing criteria for an average closing price of a security of less than $1 over a consecutive 30 trading day period. Wyndham Internationals management has met with NYSE representatives and NYSEs Listing and Compliance Committee has agreed to continue the listing of the companys common stock through Nov. 15, 2002, subject to certain conditions. At that time, the Exchange Committee will reevaluate the Companys listing status. The Company stated in its June 2002 Proxy that it had filed a listing application with the American Stock Exchange to provide an alternative in the event that the NYSE continued listing criteria is not met.
Previous ArticleConference Attendees Express Concern Over Economy, War In Iraq
Next Article Boston Hotel Project Is Finally Fully Financed