Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) announced today that it has initiated the formal sale of its CIGA portfolio of 25 luxury hotels, land, golf courses and marinas.
The Company expects to begin reviewing preliminary indications of interest in mid-February. Deutsche Bank, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels and JP Morgan are advising Starwood on the disposition of this collection of luxury, award-winning hotels and have now begun actively marketing these assets. In contrast to prior announcements, Starwood will now entertain indicative offers for 100 percent of the portfolio and/or proposals for individual or groups of assets. Starwood intends to maintain long-term management of the assets under its various brands.

The CIGA portfolio includes many of Europe`s finest luxury hotels, including the Danieli and Gritti Palace in Venice, the Grand Hotel in Florence, The Principe de Savoia in Milan, the St. Regis Grand in Rome and The Westin Palace in Madrid, all of which are listed on Conde Nast Traveler`s prestigious 2002 Gold List. The CIGA portfolio operates under Starwood`s St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Westin and Sheraton brands. CIGA`s assets also include 5,900 acres of undeveloped land in Sardinia, as well as non-hotel assets there including golf courses and marinas, which strongly complement the existing four premier CIGA resorts in the surrounding area and have significant potential for future development.

“The CIGA portfolio is comprised of trophy assets that are unrivaled in the industry and we expect considerable interest and aggressive pricing,” said Ron Brown, Starwood`s Chief Financial Officer. ” EBITDA growth for this portfolio has been among our fastest and, consequently, this has been a very difficult decision but one that we believe will best recognize and enhance shareholder value.”

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 750 properties in more than 80 countries and 110,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. With internationally renowned brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchiser of hotels and resorts including: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwood.com.

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