PRESS RELEASE - Warimpex

PRESS RELEASE
Warimpex and Louvre Hotels concretise their joint venture and acquire first pieces of
land
• Roll-out of joint budget hotels starts in Budapest
• Project in advanced stage in Cracow
• Further projects in Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are in the pipeline
Vienna, 7 March 2008
Warimpex Finanz- und Beteiligungs AG and Louvre Hotels have purchased land in Budapest
under their joint venture. On this site, the joint venture will develop a three-star hotel under
Louvre Hotels’ established Campanile brand. The plot is situated next to the stop of a metro
line running into the centre of Budapest. Ferihegy airport is only some 15 kilometres away.
The hotel will feature 280 rooms of contemporary design, conference rooms, a restaurant
and about 150 underground parking lots. As construction is to start in the second half of
2008, the hotel is expected to open in spring 2010.
In March 2007, Warimpex and Louvre Hotels agreed to form a strategic joint venture for the
development of two budget hotel chains in Central Europe. They intend to develop Louvre
Hotels’ successful brands Campanile and Première Classe in the Warimpex home markets
as well.
Investment decisions for an additional 800 rooms have been taken and further projects for
the Joint Venture are in advanced evaluation. Over the next five to seven years, more than
80 hotels are planned for Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.
”During the past few months we have been working hard on the roll-out of the joint venture.
The purchase of the first jointly owned piece of land marks the kick-off for the implementation
phase. The three-star Campanile Hotel in Budapest is the first joint development project of
the newly set up joint venture team,” says Warimpex CEO Franz Jurkowitsch.
Warimpex and Louvre Hotels are set to invest a total of EUR 300 to 500m into the
development of the budget hotel chain. The first phase of the joint venture will see the
construction of some 30 hotels in the region, with each company investing approx.
EUR 150m.

For more information please contact:
Warimpex Finanz- und Beteiligungs AG
Phone +43 1 310 55 00
Christoph Salzer, presse@warimpex.com
Daniel Folian, investor.relations@warimpex.com
www.warimpex.com
Louvre Hotels
Phone +33 1 64 62 49 23
Charlotte Mahr, cmahr@louvre-hotels.fr
www.louvrehotels.com
About Warimpex
Warimpex Finanz- und Beteiligungs AG is a real estate development and investment group with
headquarters in Vienna and local offices in Budapest, Prague, St. Petersburg, and Warsaw. Over the
past 25 years the group has developed real estate projects in Central and Eastern Europe with a
volume of more than one billion euro. In the medium term, the group aims to achieve market
leadership in hotel real estate in “New Europe”. Warimpex shares are listed for trading on the stock
exchanges of Vienna and Warsaw (WXF).
About Louvre Hotels
Louvre Hotels has more than 800 hotels and over 50,000 rooms in 9 European countries. Its wellknown
brands – Première Classe, Campanile, Kyriad and Kyriad Prestige – position the group as n° 2
in the European budget and midscale segment. In France, the group is market leader in the two-star
segments with its Campanile and Kyriad brands. Louvre Hotels is owned by, indirectly through one or
more intermediary companies, real estate funds managed and controlled by Starwood Capital Group,
a leading player in the global real estate markets. Starwood has completed over 300 transactions
representing assets in excess of $15.9 billion.