Rim Hospitality Enters JV with Tepic Management Group

Forms Rim Hospitality Canada to Manage 9 Properties in British Columbia and Alberta

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. October 14, 2008

MODESTO, CA / VANCOUVER, Canada, September 26, 2007. Rim Hospitality today announced it has entered a joint venture with Tepic Management Group and has acquired Tepic's hotel management assets in the process. Additionally, Rim and Tepic's owners have formed Rim Hospitality Canada, Inc., a Canada-based joint venture with $200 million in hotel management assets.

The agreement is a multimillion-dollar cash and stock transaction, with a debt carry-back provision by Tepic as Rim is not acquiring any of the debts of Tepic or Tepic's owners. Additional financial details were not disclosed.

Through these actions, Rim has joined the ranks of international hotel management companies and has also become one of the largest hotel management companies in Canada.

"Acquiring the assets of Tepic Management Group and partnering with Tepic's owners (Tom Matthews and Ellen Walker-Matthews) to form Rim Hospitality Canada are great opportunities for us," said Mark Burden, president and CEO of Rim Hospitality. "Not only do we open the doors of Rim Hospitality Canada with more than $200 million in hotel management assets, but to do so with Tom and Ellen as part of the Rim team leading our Canadian joint venture - that's awesome.

"Additionally, Rim has now entered the hotel condo market (also known as the 'strata hotel' market), which we see as another vehicle for us as we move Rim forward. Taken in concert, this is a very big day for all of us in the Rim family. To be able to leverage Rim's depth and resources with our base in Canada will give us a great advantage as we move forward with Rim Hospitality Canada," Tom Matthews said. "The Rim team is fantastic to work with. Melding Rim's strengths in branded and franchise hotel management with Tepic's strengths in strata hotel management looks very promising to all of us."

Tom Matthews has more than 28 years experience in the hotel, hospitality and tourism industry in Canada and the U.S., including 20 years in total with Westin, Four Seasons and Delta.

New Acquisition Strategy for Rim Unveiled

By acquiring the hotel management assets of Tepic Management Group, Rim Hospitality enters a new phase in its 24-year history. "Overnight we have transformed Rim Hospitality into a leader in North American hotel management," said Mark LeBlanc, Senior Vice President of Development for Rim Hospitality. "Folding Tom, Ellen and the rest of the Tepic team into Rim is a huge coup for us and will be a great boon to our property partners as well as we all grow and learn from one another's experience and expertise.

"Additionally, we are looking for other hotel management companies that would welcome the prospect of leveraging Rim's strengths with their own. In the meantime, we will continue to help our partners create and manage the best hotels and lodging properties possible, properties that are great assets and deliver great returns for their owners and investors."