Norgani To Acquire 15 Finnish Hotels

With reference to Norgani Hotels' stock exchange notice of June 2, initial negotiations with Kapiteeli Plc have now been concluded. Norgani has today entered into an agreement with Kapiteeli Plc of exclusive final negotiations to acquire their Finnish hotel portfolio.

The portfolio consists of 15 hotels and one congress centre, located mainly in Helsinki, Espo and Tampere. The hotels have 2 913 rooms in total, with an average of 194 rooms. The properties represent approximately 190 000 sqm in total. Average duration of lease contracts is 6.5 years. 12 of the hotels and the congress centre are operated by Scandic / Hilton.

An acquisition of this portfolio would increase Norgani's Nordic market presence and would establish Norgani as the second largest hotel property owner in Finland. In line with Norgani's strategy the hotels are predominantly large, newly refurbished 3 - 4 star city-hotels.

After a transaction, Norgani Hotels would have a total of 79 hotel properties, with 13 379 rooms and a total of 701 802 sqm.

- This acquisition would match our strategy perfectly, comments Mr. Kjell Sagstad, CEO of Norgani Hotels ASA.

On the extraordinary general assembly held on 2 June, the board of Norgani Hotels ASA was granted a power of attorney to increase the number of shares by up 30 percent. The transaction will be partly financed with new equity, through a rights issue which is already fully underwritten.

A confirmatory due diligence process, concerning the Finnish hotel portfolio, will start shortly. The transaction is conditioned upon financing, satisfactory due diligence and a final purchase agreement. Norgani expects a final purchase agreement to be signed by the end of June 2006. The parties have agreed not to disclose further information until a final purchase agreement is signed.

See for further information about Kapiteeli Plc.

Norgani Hotels ASA is the leading Nordic hotel property company. Norgani was formed in 2005. Norgani own a total of 63 hotels with 10,515 rooms, acquired at a purchase price of NOK 6.5 billion. The hotels are leased out to solid tenants, largely at revenue based leases and with a long remaining contract period. From the very start Norgani has secured long-term financing at favourable conditions which, combined with a substantial equity base, provides the company with the financial capability to make further investments. Norgani Hotels ASA floated its shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange on 16 November 2005.