RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Promotion of Leslie D. Hale to Executive Vice President
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 Us
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 natural
disasters, 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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please visit our website:
http://rljlodgingtrust.com
