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Starwood Hotels & Resorts Completes Sale of Manhattan at Times Square

By: Starwood Hotels & Resorts |  10 Shares     77 Reads

STAMFORD, Conn. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Oct. 3, 2012 - Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) announced today it has completed the sale of the 665-room Manhattan at Times Square Hotel in New York City to affiliates of Rockpoint Group, Goldman Sachs’ Real Estate Principal Investment Area, and Highgate Holdings for $275 million in cash. The property, located on Seventh Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets, will be managed by Highgate Holdings as an independent hotel unaffiliated with Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

“As we continue our transition to an asset-light model, we continue to look for opportunities to sell our owned hotels at attractive prices to best create value for our shareholders, and this sale of a non-strategic asset is consistent with that strategy,” said Simon Turner, President of Global Development, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. “In 2010, we removed the Sheraton flag from the Manhattan at Times Square property as part of our ongoing commitment to the revitalization of the Sheraton brand in North America and began a rigorous process to evaluate all value-maximization options for this asset. With all nine of our brands already well-represented in New York City across approximately 9,000 rooms, we believe this sale presented the best value for our shareholders.”

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1,112 properties in nearly 100 countries and 154,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft®, and ElementSM. The Company boasts one of the industry’s leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), allowing members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout dates. Starwood also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., a premier provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

About Rockpoint Group, L.L.C.

Rockpoint Group, L.L.C. ("Rockpoint") is a real estate investment management firm headquartered in Boston and with additional primary offices in San Francisco, Dallas and London. The Firm employs a fundamental value approach to investing and a maintains a hands-on focus on a key set of asset classes in select geographic regions, with a primary emphasis on opportunities in the United States and with an extensive portfolio of hotel assets. Since its inception in 2003, Rockpoint has sponsored six private investment funds with capital commitments of over $6 billion. For more information, please visit www.rockpointgroup.com.

About Highgate Holdings

Highgate Holdings is a fully integrated hospitality management and real estate investment company. Since its founding in 1988, the firm has owned, individually and with partners, more than 80 hotel properties. Highgate's present ownership, development, and management portfolio includes more than 21,000 rooms located primarily in such urban gateways as New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Miami, Dallas, Boston, Honolulu and Paris. Highgate has a strong presence in New York City, with a Manhattan platform that comprises 15 operating hotels, and upon completion of assets currently under construction will constitute 19 assets with more than 9,500 rooms.

About Goldman Sachs’ Real Estate Principal Investment Area

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals. Goldman Sachs’ Real Estate Principal Investment Area is one of the largest real estate investment managers globally with approximately $29 billion of capital raised since its inception in 1991, deployed across a broad range of markets and investment types. Investments include real estate companies, properties, development projects, loan portfolios and debt recapitalizations. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world.

Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. Further results, performance and achievements may be affected by general economic conditions, including the duration and severity of any global or regional economic downturns, the availability of financing alternatives at acceptable terms, the impact of war and terrorist activity, business and financing conditions, foreign exchange fluctuations, cyclicality of the real estate (including residential) and the hotel and vacation ownership businesses, operating risks associated with the hotel, vacation ownership and residential businesses. These risks and uncertainties are presented in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained or that results will not materially differ. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Source: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Contact:

Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Carrie Bloom
203-964-5755

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