Former NBA Player and Entrepreneur Jamal Mashburn Acquires a Stake in FairBridge Hotels
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON - January 17, 2013 - Mashburn Enterprises of Miami Beach, Florida led by successful businessman and retired NBA great Jamal Mashburn, in conjunction with private investment firm Dema Holdings has acquired an undisclosed stake in privately-held FairBridge Hotels International, a hospitality services firm in Spokane, Washington.
FairBridge (FHI) provides hotel owners and operators with a customized suite of portfolio management, branding, revenue optimization, and technology services. FHI branded systems are designed to ensure that properties consistently achieve superior financial and operational outcomes for hotel owners and operators. Since the opening of the first FairBridge Inn Express in 2009, today FHI counts nearly 25 hotels across the US and Canada as clients, and now partners with investors to build, manage and operate hotel assets worldwide. As FairBridge serves the growing industry demand for affordable managed solutions and hassle-free brand support, its proprietary cloud-based technology platform provides affordable and flexible booking delivery choices to properties worldwide. Mashburn explains, “The mission at FairBridge is a clear and singular focus to drive peak performance to every meaningful measure of a lodging asset's success. Our core strength is the high degree of support we deliver, and we feel great about the way in which we are positioned to provide this exceptional brand of service to hundreds of hotels all over the world.”
Mashburn joins company founders Sumi Kohli, Frederick Schoener, Sumeet Kals, as well as Duke El Manasara of Dema Holdings and Deepinder Singh Sarang on the Board of Directors this month as senior investment advisor to FHI. “What is very nice about the opportunity to work alongside Jamal, Sumeet and Deepinder is that although they are often among the youngest and most diverse executives in the room, they also usually are the guys with the most experience with, insight into, and knowledge about the issue or deal on the table”, adds El Manasara who now directs development strategy at FHI. In addition to ongoing domestic conversion and redevelopment opportunities with lenders and special servicers, FHI is actively engaged in the delivery of services to projects throughout Southeast Asia, Africa, China, and Middle East and South America.
“Strong. Swift. Precise. Prepared. Talented. That is the best way I can describe our new team members. In our business, past performance can be a fair indicator of what you have, and what we have with Jamal and Duke are leaders with diverse and successful backgrounds in global real estate, financing, hospitality and franchising so we could not possibly have hoped for a better fit for FairBridge”, Kohli stated.
Looking ahead, Schoener shared his enthusiasm about the future of FairBridge in 2013, “It's a thrilling time for us as we build and grow the various units of FHI. With the abundance of talent and energy we have around here, we're poised to help owners and operators virtually anywhere in the world, and create that great new vibe in the hotel marketplace.”
About FairBridge Hotels International
FairBridge Hotels brand offers a customized model and flex-concept approach as an alternative to the traditional franchise method by allowing operators to join a membership organization that offers the affiliate members a unique, vibrant, and dynamic brand identity with complete back-end operational support without having to assume any of the complex burdens of hotel franchise relationships. FairBridge offers the flex-concept membership-based affiliation, a flat-rate fee system “that operators prefer over the traditional outdated and expensive franchise model,” says Fredrick Schoener, Director of Brand Operations. The complete suite of offerings from FairBridge spans across all major hospitality industry segments. For more information about FairBridge Hotels International, see www.fairbridgeinns.com/membership/.
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