The award to Strategic Hotel Capital was accepted by Kay Dymock, managing director international, Strategic Hotel Capital. Strategic Hotel Capital was chosen by an audience of more than 600 delegates using sophisticated interactive voting techniques. The delegates included investors, financiers, developers and top industry executives.  

Linking up with GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd. (GIC RE), the real estate investment arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. Pte Ltd., Strategic Hotel Capital acquired the five-star, 364-room property from Czech Investment Funds last August. The existing franchise with Inter-Continental was converted to a full management contract.  According to Dymock, the acquisition had a reported initial yield of 10 percent, and IRRs in the mid-twenties, with an extra bonus for the new investors of a newly completed renovation. Built in 1974, the five-star hotel had undergone a US$45 million renovation, and now includes two restaurants, a conference center and large health club and fitness facility.  

�We are grateful for the recognition by our peers of an acquisition that represents one of the biggest hotel sales in Central and Eastern Europe,� said Laurence Geller, CEO, Strategic Hotel Capital. �Given that this deal involved our acquisition of a Czech Republic publicly traded asset and was completed in less than a 30-day period, we are particularly proud to note that it involved virtually everyone in both our European and U.S. organizations. It was a fine example of the efficient work output of a globally seasoned team of professionals,� added Geller.

A privately held firm founded in 1997, SHCI targets upscale and luxury hotels on a global basis for acquisition. It has a preference for acquiring larger hotels (200-plus rooms) managed by a group of very select, �preferred� operators. Since its inception, SHCI has assembled a portfolio of 31 properties in the United States, Mexico and Europe.  Hotels in the SHCI portfolio include the Essex House, A Westin Hotel, New York City; the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, Calif; the Hyatt Regency New Orleans; the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero and the Park Hyatt, both in San Francisco; and the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C.

SHCI is committed to building approximately 30 percent of its portfolio outside of the United States, said Geller. In Europe, its properties are the Stakis St. Ermin�s in London, the Marriott Champs Elysees in Paris and the newly acquired Hotel Inter-Continental Praha. In Mexico, SHCI owns the Four Seasons, Mexico City. According to Geller, future expansion outside of North America will largely focus on Western Europe and Asia.

SHCI is a privately held �C� corporation whose major shareholders include the Whitehall funds and Prudential Insurance Co.of America.