Kingdom Hotel Investments Announces its First Investment in Asia

Kingdom Hotel Investments Announces its First Investment in Asia

May 02, 2006

    PHUKET, Thailand, May 3 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Kingdom
Hotel Investments ("KHI"), the leading hotel and
resort investment company, chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed
Bin Talal, is pleased to announce it has signed a contract
to acquire the Karon Beach Hotel Phuket (currently managed
by Crowne Plaza) from LaSalle Investment Management for an
undisclosed sum.  Details of the acquisition remain
confidential pending final completion of the transaction. 
This is KHI's first acquisition in Asia and offers a prime
freehold location in an area of rebounding tourist demand. 
KHI will re-brand the Hotel as a Movenpick.

    The Resort opened in 1984 as the Karon Villa Resort and
was acquired by LaSalle Investment Management in December
2003.  The resort was closed during 2004 and most of 2005
and was subject to a significant refurbishment program
following which, the resort was re-opened in August 2005. 
It is now poised to benefit from the recovery of tourist
arrivals and room rates in the region as well as the
repositioning with the Movenpick Brand.  

    The hotel is located on the West Coast of Phuket, in
the heart of the Karon Beach resort area, one of Thailand's
most popular beach resort destinations.  The resort is
spread across a lush and exceptionally well landscaped site
of 82,688 sqm on Karon Beach.  It comprises 352 rooms
(including 186 villa-suites with private plunge pools) as
well as 30 two-bedroom apartments to be sold leasehold and
managed by the hotel.  The hotel also holds the second
largest ballroom in Phuket, which will help drive year
round occupancy by adding bookings from the convention
market.  

    This acquisition, with its large number of suites
represents a unique offer in the hotel market and will
enable the hotel to achieve higher average rates versus
competitors.  KHI plans for the new Movenpick hotel include
raising additional debt and completing the sale of the 30
apartments (Ancillary real estate) within a period of two
years.

    HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, Chairman of KHI said:
"This is a rare opportunity to purchase a fully
refurbished hotel in a pristine site on Phuket's most
popular West Coast.  The hotel will benefit from the
recovery of tourist arrivals to the region, and through
Movenpick will capture increasing levels of European
demand."

    Sarmad Zok, Chief Executive Officer of KHI, said:
"We are delighted by the addition of The Hotel in
Phuket to our portfolio, which represents continued global
diversification into the world's Emerging Markets.  This
existing hotel is the first of many investment
opportunities for KHI in Asia since the opening of KHI's
Asian offices in Singapore earlier on this year."  

    Andrew Heithersay, National Director of LaSalle
Investment Management, said: "We have achieved our
investment objective on behalf of our LaSalle Asia Recovery
Fund and wish Kingdom Hotel Investments every success in
their future endeavours at this beautiful resort."

    Notes to Editors

    About Kingdom Hotel Investments:
    KHI, headquartered in Dubai, UAE, is a leading hotel
and resort acquisition and development company focused on
the first class and luxury market segments in international
high growth markets such as the Middle East, Asia, Africa,
emerging markets and Europe.  The Company has ownership
interests in 28 properties in 14 countries including 17
operational hotels and resorts (3,618 rooms) and 11 hotels
and resorts (3,203 rooms) currently under construction or
in the initial stages of development.  

    About Crowne Plaza Karon Beach Phuket:
    The Crowne Plaza Karon Beach Phuket resort, opened in
1984 as the Karon Villa Resort and is located on the
island's West Coast in the heart of Karon Beach in
Thailand's most popular beach resort destinations. 
Together with the beaches of Patong and Kata, Karon is
regarded as the focal point of Phuket's key tourist
market.

    The resort measures 82,688m2, which includes 352 rooms
(166 in a 5-storey tower and 186 villa-type rooms with
private plunge pools).  Other features include a large Spa,
three swimming pools and a health club.  30 two-bedroom
apartments (120m2), with dedicated gardens and a swimming
pool are also included in the site.  These are to be sold
subject to a rental pool management programme.

    About LaSalle Investment Management:
    LaSalle Investment Management is a major force in the
world's real estate capital markets with $30 billion of
assets under management invested in private real estate,
both separate accounts and funds, and publicly listed real
estate securities.  Our 550 employees are located in 24
offices across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.  We
deliver innovative, customised investment strategies across
the globe to a broad range of investors such as pension
funds, insurance companies and high net worth money
managers.  We measure our success in terms of both
performance and client satisfaction and consequently enjoy
one of the highest rates of client retention in the
industry. 

    LaSalle is a wholly owned, but operationally
independent, division of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., one of
the world's leading real estate service providers.  Jones
Lang LaSalle is a publicly held, New York Stock Exchange
listed company (ticker: JLL). 

    Enquiries

    Kingdom Hotel Investments	
     c/o Brunswick  
     Kate Holgate/Sophie Robinson  
     Tel: [phone] 

    LaSalle Investment Management	
     Andrew Heithersay			
     Tel: [phone]

SOURCE  Kingdom Hotel Investments