NH Hoteles and Thistle Hotels agree Sales and Marketing alliance

• The agreement will enable both companies to enter new markets whilst saving costs
• NH Hoteles will begin selling in Asia and will be strengthened in English-speaking countries
• Thistle Hotels will benefit from referrals from NH Hoteles sales force in Spain and Central Europe
• The two hotel chains, which are fully complementary, will work together on Marketing and Communication activities

The two companies' business model, markets, product, services and customers are highly complementary. Thistle Hotels already have recently signed similar agreements with First Hotels of Scandinavia and Meritus Hotels in Singapore.

This alliance will allow the two companies to jointly benefit from their distribution channels, carry out combined direct sales operations with their biggest corporate accounts and boost bookings in the business and leisure segments. The two companies will, moreover, promote combined initiatives in marketing and public relations and share the benefits of on-line bookings on both corporate websites as well as win new clients in both the business and leisure sectors.

Arun Amarsi, CEO of BIL International (Thistle Hotels' parent company) says: "We are very enthusiastic about signing this alliance with NH Hoteles, which will enable us to extend our base and distribute more rooms to new customers. Together with our alliances with First Hotels and Meritus Hotels, this really does enable us to offer a global solution for our customers' needs anywhere, while keeping up the standard of quality and service expected of us".

Gabriele Burgio, President and CEO of NH Hoteles, says: "This agreement is ideal for NH Hoteles because it means that we will be able, at minimal cost, to extend the frontiers of our business to attractive markets such as the United Kingdom and Asia and, at the same time, offer in a very important market such as the U.K. a very good product with Thistle."

About Thistle Hotels - Thistle Hotels is one of the UK’s leading hotel companies with 56 properties, with just under 11,000 bedrooms, in key cities and countryside locations. The group is the largest operator in London, with 24 hotels in prime locations throughout the capital. Further information about Thistle Hotels is available on the website, www.thistlehotels.com.

About NH Hoteles - The NH Hoteles Group (www.nh-hoteles.com) is the third largest business hotel group in Europe. NH has 240 hotels operating in all with 35,000 rooms in 16 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. NH Hoteles now has 27 projects for new hotels under construction, which will provide a further 4,000 rooms. NH hotels are well known for their quality of service and facilities, and are decorated uniformly and very carefully with a view to pleasing all tastes. The establishments of NH Hoteles offer state-of-the-art technologies to help customers in communications, work and entertainment. NH Hoteles is listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange (it is included in the selective Ibex 35) and on Euronext in Amsterdam. NH Hoteles is also a member of Stoxx Europe 600, which includes the top firms in Europe. NH Hoteles is also listed on the prestigious Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index of stocks.