RLJ Development,
LLC Closes the RLJ Real Estate Fund III, L.P. with $1.2
Billion in Equity Commitments
BETHESDA, MD (January 14,
2008) – Privately
held RLJ Development, LLC (RLJ) controlled by Robert L. Johnson,
founder of BET and owner of the NBA Charlotte Bobcats is
pleased to announce that it has completed the final closing
of its third private equity real estate fund, the RLJ Real
Estate Fund III, L.P. (RLJ Fund III) with $1.2 billion in
equity commitments. The RLJ Fund III has 16 institutional
investors including several major public and corporate pension
funds, financial institutions and a dominant hospitality
entity. Combined with leverage the RLJ Fund III will have
total purchasing power of nearly $4 billion. RLJ was exclusively
represented by Presidio Partners, a real estate investment
bank with offices in San Francisco and Chicago.
The RLJ Fund III’s primary strategy is to acquire
and develop upscale, focused service hotels with premium
brands in urban markets or dense suburban locations in major
metropolitan areas. RLJ has expanded its strategy to
include mixed-use investments in target markets.
Robert L. Johnson, Chairman and CEO
of RLJ, stated “We
are proud to close our third fund and delighted with the
overwhelming response from the institutional investment community. I
particularly want to thank Jeffery Immelt, Chairman and CEO
of General Electric Company, (GE) for making GE, through
its General Electric Pension Trust and General Electric Real
Estate Equities, Inc., one of our foundation investors. We
now have over $2.2 billion in equity under management in
our real estate platform.”
Thomas J. Baltimore Jr., President
of RLJ added, “Our
mission is to deliver superior risk adjusted returns for
our investors with a highly focused investment strategy.
The backdrop of a slowing economy and tighter credit should
create attractive buying opportunities for our well- capitalized
firm.”
About RLJ Development, LLC. RLJ Development,
LLC is one of The RLJ Companies’ portfolio companies
controlled by Robert L. Johnson. RLJ Development is
a privately-held real estate investment company founded and
led by Robert L. Johnson and Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr. and
is the largest African-American hotel investment company
in the U.S. with 135 hotels valued over $3.0 billion. www.rljhotels.com
About The RLJ Companies. The
RLJ Companies, founded by Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black
Entertainment Television, provides strategic investment and
direction in and for a diverse portfolio of companies in
the financial services, real estate, hospitality/restaurant,
professional sports, film production, gaming and recording
industries. The RLJ Companies’ core businesses
include: RLJ Development, a privately held hotel real estate
investment company, RLJ Urban Lodging Fund and RLJ Lodging
Fund II, both of which are private equity real estate funds,
the three together have over $3.0 billion in combined assets;
RolloverSystems, a financial services company providing retirement
planning services based in Charlotte, North Carolina; RLJ
Equity Partners, a private equity fund that seeks expansion
capital and buyout investment opportunities in six core industries;
RLJ Select Investments, a multi-strategy hedge fund of funds
platform; Urban Trust Holdings, a company that holds Urban
Trust Bank, a federal thrift institution with operations
in Florida, Washington, D.C., and Maryland, and a nationwide
credit card operation; the NBA Charlotte Bobcats and Charlotte
Arena Operations; Our Stories Films, a film production company
based in Los Angeles; Caribbean Gaming & Entertainment
(CAGE), a video lottery gaming company based in Puerto Rico
with operations in St. Kitts and The Turks and Caicos Islands;
RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Group; and Three Keys Music,
a jazz recording company. www.rljcompanies.com
About Presidio Partners. Presidio
Partners (“Presidio”) is a real estate investment
bank with a singular focus on providing capital raising and
advisory services to real estate fund sponsors, operators,
REITs and other real estate market participants. Presidio
emphasizes individualized attention to its clients, working
with only a few quality sponsors at any given time. Presidio
leverages its relationships with public and corporate pension
funds, foundations, endowments, insurance companies and other
institutional investors to raise capital for its clients,
which include sponsors from all segments of investment style,
experience and property focus continuums. Products include
real estate private equity funds, programmatic joint ventures
and entity-level investments. Since its inception in June
2003, Presidio has raised over $9 billion of private equity
capital for its clients.
Note: Certain matters discussed herein
are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Certain, but not necessarily
all, of such statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology, such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “estimates” or “anticipates” or
the negative thereof or comparable Terminology. All forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors, which may cause the actual transactions, results,
performance or achievements of the Company to be materially
different from any future transactions, results, performance
or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. These may include: (i) national and local economic
and business conditions or governmental regulations that will
affect demand, prices, wages or other costs for hotels; (ii)
the level of rates and occupancy that can be achieved by such
properties; (iii) the Company’s ability to compete effectively
in areas such as access, location, quality of properties and
rate structures; (iv) the ability to maintain the properties
in a first-class manner (including meeting capital expenditure
requirements); (v) the availability and terms of financing;
(vi) changes to the need for compliance with environmental
licensure and safety requirements; and (vii) the ability to
find available acquisitions and investment opportunities. Although
the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and business
opportunities, it can give no assurance that its expectations
will be attained or that any deviations will not be material.
The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the
result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements
that may be made to reflect any future events or circumstances |
