Article Excerpt:
TWST: Can we start with an overview of the company and how you see it today?Mr. Parrington: Lodgian is unique in the business today in that it's an owner and operator of hotels unlike many of the other public companies that are either owners, primarily the hotel REITs, or operators and franchisors, such as Marriott, Starwood, etc. We have a fairly unique position in the marketplace as an owner/operator. We have a portfolio currently of 79 hotels plus another six that are held for sale. We own hotels in a wide range of brands; the largest representation is with InterContinental Hotel Group, with Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Express. Our second largest representation is the Marriott family of brands, and third is the Hilton family of brands.
TWST: Why go the route that you've gone rather than being a franchiser
or an operator?
Mr. Parrington: We've looked at a number of options. We were formed back
in 1998 by the merger of two large hotel companies ' Impac, which was
private, and Servico, which was a public company ' which brought
together a significant hotel ownership package as well as a significant
management group. So we've looked at the options going forward, and
currently we have a very significant amount of net operating loss
carryforwards. So rather than shift to a REIT structure and spin off the
management, we have made the interim decision to remain as an
owner/operator, something we will look at again in a few years as the
net operating losses start to burn off and as we become a taxpayer
again.
Tickers included in this excerpt: LGN
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