Contact Information: Contact: Donavon A. Heimes Supertel Hospitality Chief financial officer 402.371.2520 Jerry Daly Carol McCune Daly Gray (Media Contact) 703.435.6293
Kelly A. Walters Joins Supertel Hospitality as President & CEO
| Source: Supertel Hospitality, Inc.
NORFOLK, NE--(Marketwire - April 2, 2009) - Supertel Hospitality, Inc. (NASDAQ : SPPR ), a
real estate investment trust (REIT) which owns 122 hotels in 24 states,
today announced that Kelly A. Walters will join the company as president
and chief executive officer, effective April 14, 2009. Walters was a senior
vice president at Investors Real Estate Trust (NASDAQ : IRET ). He will
succeed Paul J. Schulte, the current president and chief executive officer.
Schulte, 75, will continue as chairman of the board.
"Kelly brings a wealth of commercial real estate expertise and a strong
relationship with the investment community, which will serve Supertel
shareholders well in this challenging economic climate," Schulte said. "He
is a proven leader who has consistently generated strong business results
throughout his career."
"Supertel's experienced management team has produced an excellent track
record as limited-service hotel owners, and I am very confident with our
current business model within the hospitality sector," Walters said. "Our
biggest challenge remains the capital markets and our balance sheet. Over
the past year, the senior management team has worked diligently and
effectively on the company's plan to permanently strengthen the balance
sheet. Improving our financial position will remain our primary focus
through 2009 and into 2010. Then, on a very measured and selective basis,
we plan to pursue opportunities in other commercial real estate segments,
with the goal of obtaining accretive risk-adjusted returns that will add
balance to our hospitality portfolio and ultimately bring more value to our
shareholders."
Walters, 48, is a former senior vice president for North Dakota-based
Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET), a self-advised equity real estate
investment trust with nearly 250 multi-family residential, office, medical,
industrial and retail commercial real estate assets. Previously, he was
senior vice president of Omaha-based Magnum Resources, Inc., a privately
held real estate investment and operating company. In 2006, IRET acquired a
portion of Magnum's portfolio in a UPREIT transaction valued at $140
million, and Walters joined the company's senior management team at the
close of the transaction. At various times throughout his 13-year tenure
with the two companies, he was responsible for investment strategy,
acquisitions and dispositions, capital markets activities, and asset
management.
Prior to joining Magnum Resources, Walters was a senior portfolio manager
at Brown Brothers Harriman & Company in Chicago. He also held investment
positions with Peter Kiewit Sons' Inc. He holds a B.S./B.A. degree in
banking and finance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a MBA from
the University of Nebraska.
About Supertel Hospitality, Inc.
As of March 31, 2009, Supertel Hospitality, Inc. (NASDAQ : SPPR ) owns 122
hotels comprised of 10,659 rooms in 24 states. The company's hotel
portfolio includes Super 8, Comfort Inn/Comfort Suites, Hampton Inn,
Holiday Inn Express, Supertel Inn, Days Inn, Ramada Limited, Guest House
Inn, Sleep Inn, Savannah Suites, Masters Inn, Key West Inns and Baymont
Inn. This diversity enables the company to participate in the best
practices of each of these respected hospitality partners. The company
specializes in limited service hotels, which do not normally offer food and
beverage service. For more information or to make a hotel reservation,
visit www.supertelinc.com.
Certain matters within this press release are discussed using
forward-looking language as specified in the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, and, as such, may involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results or
performance to differ from those projected in the forward-looking
statement. These risks are discussed in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.