Inspiration Hlt Regulatory News (IHC)

26 Sep 2007 09:46

India Hospitality Corp.26 September 2007 For Immediate Release 26 September 2007 INDIA HOSPITALITY CORP. India Hospitality Announces Appointment of Scott LaPorta as Director New York, NY. - September 26, 2007 - India Hospitality Corp. (LSE: IHC, IHC orIndia Hospitality), today announced the appointment of Mr. Scott A. LaPorta,aged 45, to the board of directors to replace Christa Short who has resignedfrom the board. "We are pleased to welcome Scott to the board and the IHC team. Scott bringswith him a wealth of experience in the gaming, lodging, retail and airportconcession industries and we look forward to his future contributions to ourgrowth," said Chairman of the Board, Jason Ader. Mr. LaPorta is a managing director of Hayground Cove Asset Management. He isalso the Chief Executive Officer and serves on the board of directors of GlobalConsumer Acquisition Corp., a blank check company sponsored by Hayground Coveformed to acquire one or more businesses in the global consumer products andservices industry. Mr. LaPorta has a strong acquisition, turnaround, brandrepositioning and investment background. Prior to joining us and Hayground Cove,he was an Executive Vice President of Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC fromApril 2007 to July 2007 and, prior to that, President of Levi Strauss & Co.'sbrands (Dockers, Levi's, and Signature) in Mexico and Canada as well as LeviStrauss Signature in the United States from October 2003 to March 2007. Hisprior responsibilities at Levi Strauss included Senior Vice President of Sales,Strategy and Finance for Levi Strauss North America where he was the leadturn-around strategist from February 2002 to October 2003. Mr. LaPorta has priorexperience as the Chief Financial Officer for Park Place Entertainmentoverseeing acquisitions, development, investor relations, corporate finance andfinancial planning from 1998 to 2001 and, prior to that, as the Treasurer ofHilton Hotels Corporation from 1996 to 1998. Before joining Hilton, Mr. LaPortaheld a series of financial positions at the Marriott companies progressing toTreasurer of Host Marriott Corporation from 1993 to 1996. Mr. LaPorta earned aBachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Virginia and a Master'sdegree in Business Administration from Vanderbilt University. Prior to attendingbusiness school he was a senior accountant at Price Waterhouse. Mr. LaPorta had not been a director of any other company within the last fiveyears. There are no further disclosures required to be made in relation to Mr.LaPorta pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule Two to the AIM Rules. About India Hospitality Corp. IHC was created as a blank-check company to acquire Indian businesses or assetsin the hospitality, leisure, tourism, travel and related industries, includingbut not limited to hotels, resorts, timeshares, serviced apartments andrestaurants. In August 2006, IHC raised US $103 million in an IPO and private placement andis listed on AIM, a market operated by London Stock Exchange plc, under theticker IHC. The Company was sponsored and advised by Hayground Cove AssetManagement LLC, a New York-based investment management firm with approximatelyUS $1.9 billion in assets under management. About Mars and SkyGourmet Since its incorporation in 2000, Mars has diversified into bakery outlets andoperating and managing food courts and hotels. SkyGourmet was incorporated in2002 and is headquartered in Mumbai. SkyGourmet currently provides in-flightcatering services to a number of domestic and international airlines, includingJet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air India Express, Indian Airlines, MalaysianAirlines and Air France. It has operations in Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi andPune. For the nine months ended December 31, 2006, the combined entities hadaudited revenues of approximately US $18.9 million and 1,700 employees. For Further Information Contact: Investor Relations Contact: ICR Inc.William Schmitt203-682-8200 Media Contact: Buchanan CommunicationsRichard Darby, Isabel Podda+44 207 466 5000 Nominated Adviser and Broker: Deutsche BankMumtaz Naseem+44 20 7545 8000 Deutsche Bank AG is authorised under German Banking Law (competent authority:BaFin - Federal Financial Supervising Authority) and with respect to UKcommodity derivatives business by the Financial Services Authority; regulated bythe Financial Services Authority for the conduct of UK business. Deutsche Bankis acting exclusively for IHC. and no-one else in connection with theacquisition and related transactions and other matters referred to in thisannouncement and will not be responsible to anyone other than IHC. for providingthe protections afforded to clients of Deutsche Bank AG nor for providing advicein relation to the acquisitions and related transactions or any matter referredto in this announcement. Deutsche Bank is IHC's nominated adviser and broker for the purposes of the AIMRules for Companies. Its responsibilities as IHC's nominated adviser and brokerunder the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers are owed solely to London StockExchange plc and not to IHC, any director of IHC or any other person. No offer or invitation to purchase or subscribe for ordinary shares in orwarrants to purchase or subscribe for ordinary shares or warrants of IHC isbeing made by this announcement. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange