Oslo, November 14, 2006. Norgani Hotels ASA has entered into a letter of intent (LOI) with Fearnely Finans Eiendom AS, on behalf of companies being established, regarding the sale of four Danish hotels Clarion Copenhagen, Scandic Kolding, Scandic Glostrup and Scandic Hvidovre. The hotels have a total of 729 rooms and a lettable floor area of 34,744 sqm (excluding a planned conference center for Clarion Copenhagen). The LOI is subject to due diligence and financing. Expected closing is before 31 December 2006.
The agreement is constructed as a share deal, where the properties have been valued to DKK 622.6 million. This implies an estimated property yield of 6 %. Capital gain is estimated to DKK 42 million and the realized value gain from the sale is estimated to DKK 107 million, where DKK 65 million has been included in the accounts as of 30 September 2006 as increased market value. Estimated sales value is 7 % above valuation as at 30 September 2006 and 21 % above acquisition value. With a leverage around 78 %, this is equivalent to almost a 100 % increase of equity attributed to the sold properties since acquisition in 2005.
Norgani will continue to manage the sold properties according to a five year agreement and will complete the construction of the planned conference center mentioned above. In connection with the transaction Norgani has guaranteed a CPI adjusted gross rent and maximum operating and investment costs for the next five years and has entered into an agreement with the buyer (maturing in 2011) which enables the buyer to sell the properties back to Norgani at a negotiated sales price which is 8 % lower than agreed value. Alternatively, the property can be sold externally at market price where Norgani has the right to buy back the hotels or share the profit according to terms set out in the agreement.
Commenting on the sale CEO Kjell Sagstad says 'We are very happy to be able to present this kind of cash flow figures to our investors. We believe this evidences the viability of the business strategy for Norgani of active asset management within hotel properties. With this sale we firmly show off the value creation that has taken place over the last year and a half. Also, even though this sale represents the major part of our Danish portfolio we still retain over 400 rooms in Denmark which are located in the centre of Copenhagen and are still firmly established with centrally located hotels in the rest of the Nordic region. Following this sale we will continue our strategy of continuously evaluating our portfolio and do not rule out further sales.'
For further information, please contact: Kjell Sagstad, CEO Norgani Hotels ASA, tel +47 922 13 020 www.norgani.no
About Norgani Norgani owns a portfolio of 79 four and three star hotel properties with an average size of 172 rooms. The weighted average lease duration for the portfolio is 7.9 years. Norgani's revenue originates from hotel operator's such as Scandic / Hilton (55%), Choice Hotels Scandinavia (24%), Radisson SAS (6%) and other Nordic and international chains (15%). In addition to the long lease duration, Norgani has minimum lease guarantees from sellers for the next 5 years regarding 90% of lease contracts. The hotel properties are as a percentage of value located in Sweden (43%), Finland (28%), Norway (19%) and Denmark (10%). Norgani Hotels ASA is listed on Oslo Børs under the ticker NORGAN since November 2005.