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Commits to Making Seagaia One of the Great Resorts of the Asia-Pacific Region |
| TOKYO - Sept. 5, 2001--Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C.
announced today that Michael F. Glennie, formerly Senior Vice President,
Resort Operations, of Boca Resorts, Inc., is joining Ripplewood as President
and Chief Executive Officer of Ripplewood Lodging and of the Phoenix/Seagaia
Resort companies at the end of September. Mr. Glennie will be based in
Japan, with offices in Tokyo and Miyazaki.
As previously announced, Ripplewood expects to complete its acquisition of the Seagaia and Phoenix Resort properties in Miyazaki, Kyushu Island, around the middle of September. The properties are being acquired from the Trustee under a rehabilitation plan which was approved by the Miyazaki District Court on August 3. "Michael Glennie brings to Ripplewood a wealth of experience gained in a 25-year career managing the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Florida, the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City and the Rockresorts group. He is a consummate hotel professional and an outstanding business leader. Michael has a strong record of successfully implementing major facilities investment programs and achieving significant operating and financial improvements at world-class resort and hotel properties. We are very excited that Michael will be working with us to lead the turnaround of the Seagaia Resort and to build our Japan-based hotel and resort business throughout the Pacific Rim," said Timothy C. Collins, Senior Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Ripplewood. "With its convenient location, excellent weather, high quality assets and world-class golf, we are committed to making Seagaia one of the great resorts of the Asia-Pacific Region," stated Mr. Glennie. "We firmly believe that, with additional investment in lodging and themed recreational amenities, Seagaia can be repositioned as an exciting destination with a considerably broader market appeal.
Seagaia Resort is situated in a historic 750-acre pine forest that extends over 10 kilometers along the Pacific Ocean coast just outside the City of Miyazaki. Its 99 holes of world-class golf include the Phoenix Country Club, a 27-hole course generally ranked among the top two golf courses in Japan and the site of the annual Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, which is scheduled to take place this year on November 8 through 11. The golf assets also include the 18-hole Tom Watson Golf Course, located in similar seaside pine forest terrain, the nearby Phoenix Kogen Country Club, with two superb 18-hole courses laid out over rolling hills overlooking Miyazaki, and the Kitago Phoenix Country Club, located high in the rugged mountains just south of Miyazaki. The Seagaia Resort also includes the deluxe 753-room Hotel Ocean 45, an impressive steel, marble and glass tower adjacent to the seaside golf courses, the nearby 296-room Sun Hotel Phoenix, the mountaintop Hotel Kitago Phoenix, the 5,000-seat World Convention Center Summit, the Ocean Dome marine park and recreation center and many other lodging and recreational assets. Resting on the same latitude as Savannah, Georgia, and Marrakech, Morocco, Miyazaki is served by the modern Miyazaki International Airport, which is only 10 km from the Resort and has dozens of daily flights from all major cities of Japan as well as scheduled and chartered flights from Korea, Taiwan, and elsewhere around the Asia/Pacific region. Renowned for its warm, sunny climate ideal for year-around outdoor activities, Miyazaki is less than a two-hour flight from a population of well over 200 million people. |
| Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C.
Kekst and Company Jeffrey Taufield / David Lilly 212/521-4800 |
| Also See | Japan�s Hotel Markets - Diverse Strengths Changing Demand / Arthur Andersen / Winter 2000 |
| Japan's Hotel Industry Poised for Change - Investors Look to Industry's Future / Winter 2000 |
