Guy Hands to Chair 2002 International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin, Ger many

Hosts of the 5th Annual International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) have announced that Mr. Guy Hands, Managing Director Principal Finance or Nomura International plc, will serve as Chairman of the event, scheduled for 19-21 March 2002 in Berlin Germany. The event will be held once again at the Hotel Inter·Continental. Hosts for the IHIF are Hotel & Motel Management, BHN and Insignia Hotel Partners.

Mr. Hands is the head and founder of the Principal Finance Group, Nomura International’s private equity arm, which to-date has invested US$16 billion in companies, including Le Meridien hotels. In 2000, he was elected a Global Leader of Tomorrow of the World Economic Forum, and he also serves as president of “Access for Excellence” a campaign based at Mansfield College, Oxford, which promotes the broadest possible access to higher education.

About the selection of Mr. Hands as Chairman, IHIF co-founder Jonathan Worsley of Insignia Hotel Partners stated: “We are thrilled to have Guy Hands as Chair of the IHIF. Guy’s knowledge of corporate structuring is well known throughout Europe, and Nomura’s acquisition and financing of Le Meridien Hotels and the Principal Group was a benchmark for institutional investment, sale and leasebacks within the hotel sector. “ Worsley added: “Guy Hands’s role at the conference has created an enormous amount of interest from the industry.”

Hotel and Motel Management is the preferred advertising vehicle for hospitality industry suppliers, service providers, franchise companies and management companies around the world. BHN brings together nearly two decades of experience in developing the world’s most prominent gatherings of the hotel and tourism investment community, including the recently held Asia Pacific Hotel Investment Conference in Hong Kong and the upcoming Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles, California. Insignia Hotel Partners, a premier hotel real estate advisory company, specializes in individual hotel and portfolio brokerage, capital advisory services and asset management.

Online registration and additional information about the 2002 IHIF is available at the event website: www.berlinconference.com