BETHESDA, Md. -April 16, 2013 --RLJ
Lodging Trust (the “Company”) (NYSE: RLJ) today announced the
appointment of Leslie D. Hale to Executive Vice President. Ms. Hale
will serve in a dual role of Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer. She will continue to oversee all financial matters,
investor relations, and the execution of all transactions. In her new
role, her responsibilities will be expanded to include additional
investment decision-making, strategic planning, and risk management.
“I am pleased to announce Leslie’s promotion to Executive Vice
President,” commented Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., the Company’s President
and Chief Executive Officer. “Leslie has been instrumental in the
Company’s growth over the past eight years. Through her strategic
focus, real estate and finance expertise, and commitment to the
Company, she has been an exceptional leader. I look forward to reaching
new levels of success and growth with her increased involvement in
investment and strategic planning.”
Since joining the Company, Ms. Hale has been promoted multiple times in
recognition of the talent and capabilities that she brings to the
Company. She joined RLJ Development, Inc., the Company’s predecessor,
in 2005 as its Director of Real Estate and Finance and was promoted to
Vice President in 2006. In 2007, she was promoted to Chief Financial
Officer and Senior Vice President.
“I am excited and honored to transition into this new leadership role,”
said Ms. Hale. “As we continue to execute our growth strategies, I will
remain focused and committed to maintaining our strong financial
position. In my expanded role, I look forward to continuing to
contribute to the growth and success of the Company.”
Prior to Ms. Hale’s tenure at RLJ, she held several positions within
General Electric Capital Corporation (“GE”), including Vice President
in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group of GE Commercial Finance and
Associate Director in the GE Real Estate – Strategic Capital Group.
Before GE, Ms. Hale was an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs &
Co. Ms. Hale earned a BBA degree with a concentration in Finance from
Howard University, summa cum laude and an MBA from Harvard Business
School.
About RLJ Lodging Trust
RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate
investment trust focused on acquiring premium-branded, focused-service
and compact full-service hotels. The Company owns 147 hotels with
nearly 22,000 rooms and one planned hotel conversion across 21 states
and the District of Columbia.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this
press release, other than purely historical information, including
estimates, projections, statements relating to our business plans,
objectives and expected operating results, and the assumptions upon
which those statements are based, are "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These
forward-looking statements generally are identified by the use of the
words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,”
“may,” “will,” “will continue,” “intend,” “should,” “may” or similar
expressions. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in
such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions,
beliefs and expectations, such forward-looking statements are not
predictions of future events or guarantees of future performance and
our actual results could differ materially from those set forth in the
forward-looking statements. Some factors that might cause such a
difference include the following: the current global economic
uncertainty, increased direct competition, changes in government
regulations or accounting rules, changes in local, national and global
real estate conditions, declines in the lodging industry, seasonality
of the lodging industry, risks related to naturaldisasters, such as
earthquakes and hurricanes, hostilities, including future terrorist
attacks or fear of hostilities that affect travel, our ability to
obtain lines of credit or permanent financing on satisfactory terms,
changes in interest rates, access to capital through offerings of our
common and preferred shares of beneficial interest, or debt, our
ability to identify suitable acquisitions, our ability to close on
identified acquisitions and integrate those businesses and inaccuracies
of our accounting estimates. A discussion of these and other risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ
materially from such forward-looking statements is included in "Risk
Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations" of the Company's Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. Given these
uncertainties, undue reliance should not be placed on such statements.
Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or
revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise.
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