Azure Properties Appoints Scandic Hotels CEO to Strengthen and Expand the Hotel Investment Practice

Azure Sees Excellent Opportunities to Assist Financial Institutions in Managing Their Hotel Assets in the Post-Crisis Environment

LONDON, March 8, 2010 - Azure Properties, one of Europe's leading hotel investment groups, is
pleased to announce that Frank Fiskers, currently President and CEO of
Scandic Hotels, the Nordic region's top hotel and hospitality company, will
join the company as a partner as of 1st September 2010 to head up and rapidly
develop its dedicated hotel real estate investment practice.

Azure Properties, headquartered in Luxembourg, with offices in the UK and
Germany, is a privately held specialist hotel investment firm that over the
years have successfully acquired, managed and divested a number of premier
hotel properties. Indeed, today Azure announced that it has signed a deal
with Manchester Airports Group to manage and operate a new 216 bedroom hotel
to be built at East Midlands Airport.

Azure sees excellent opportunities to assist banks, institutions and
private equity firms to manage, acquire and dispose of their hotel assets.
For many financial institutions hotels have become an important asset class
and, as a result of the recent financial crisis, banks across Europe,
including some of the UK's largest banks, have become owners of large
portfolios of hotels, which many likely lack the expertise or experience to
manage.

Over the past, close to ten years, private equity firms have acquired
some Euro 32.5 billion in hotel assets. Institutional investors bought a
further Euro 9.7 billion of hotel assets over the same period.

Given its specialist hotel investment experience Azure believes it can
significantly assist banks and institutions to extract the best value from
their portfolios, and give informed advice in restructuring or disposing of
hotel assets. Azure disposed of 23 of its hotels for some Euro 600 million in
2006 and 2007, ahead of a steep fall in hotel values and the worst of the
financial crisis. Also, last year, Azure completed its biggest sale of a
hotel in Europe, with its Euro 155 million disposal of the Hamburg Raddisson.

Frank Fiskers, 48 and a Danish national, has been CEO of Scandic Hotels
since 2007. Before that he held a number of senior executive positions with
Rezidor and also Hilton.

For further information, please contact: Richard Evans, The Communication Group plc +44(0)207-630-1411