The parties will be equal partners in the joint venture, which will pair an Inter-Continental hotel with a Dorint hotel in various cities.  This will allow both brands to retain their individual identities, while sharing management staff and expertise.

Commenting on the joint venture, David Bland, managing director of Bass Hotels & Resorts, Europe, Middle East and Africa said:  �This joint venture will enable Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts to grow faster in the German market and allow both parties to make substantial savings through operational synergies.�

�Germany has always been an important market for Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts and this agreement will enable us to reinforce our position in the market as the leading upscale brand, as well as benefiting from Dorint�s local expertise.�

Alfred Weiss, president and COO, Dorint Hotels & Resorts added: �As Germany�s leading hotel group we aim through this international partnership, to further strengthen our position in the four-star and particularly five-star segments.  One of the key benefits of this alliance is that guests will continue to experience the unique atmospheres of the individual properties, whilst at an operational level both groups will benefit from maximising their combined strengths.�

The first hotels to be included in the joint venture will be the Hotel Inter-Continental Berlin, which is currently undergoing a DM 102 million refurbishment of its 510 rooms, and the newly constructed Dorint Schweizerhof Berlin that was opened across the road in August last year.  From this summer, the two hotels will be operated as one unit, but still under their respective brand names and own standards.  Sales, reservation systems and marketing will remain separate, but operational synergies will be derived from combining administration, yield management, accounting, purchasing and maintenance resources.

To follow will be Cologne, where the 260 room Stadthaus will be rebuilt and opened as an Inter-Continental in the spring of 2002 as part of a multi-purpose development.  The hotel will be managed through the joint venture and paired with the existing, nearby Dorint Kongress Hotel (284 rooms).

These two initiatives are the first of what is hoped will be many strategic partnerships under the new joint venture.  Bass Hotels & Resorts & Dorint Hotels & Resorts are already working together to explore the other opportunities it presents to both companies.

Bass Hotels & Resorts®, the hotel business of Bass PLC of the United Kingdom, operates or franchises more than 2,800 hotels and 450,000 guest rooms in more than 90 countries and territories.  Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts first entered the German hotel market in 1963 and currently operates 5 properties in Germany in Berlin, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Hamburg.

Dorint Hotels & Resorts, founded in 1959, is German�s leading hotel group.  At present, it comprises 83 properties, with altogether 25,000 beds in ten European countries and in North Africa/Morocco.  Ten more hotels are at the design stage, 14 hotels are under construction.

Total revenue of Dorint will come close to DM 900 million in 2000 with roughly 6,000 employees.  Dorint operates hotels under one brand name with respective classification in five-star hotels in the luxury segment, four-star-hotels in the first class segment and three-star-hotels in the budget segment.