Skanska, Portman Holdings, Starwood and the City of Warsaw to jointly develop Westin Warsaw Hotel in Warsaw

Skanska, Portman Holdings, Starwood and the City of Warsaw to jointly develop Westin Warsaw Hotel in Warsaw - Skanska receives construction contract valued at SEK 500 M (EUR 55.4 M) Skanska, Portman Holdings, Starwood and Gmina Warszawa Centrum are to jointly develop the Westin Warsaw Hotel in Warsaw. Skanska has a 33% share of the new joint development company, with a total equity of EUR 15.5 M. The total investment for the development company is EUR 79.5 M. The loan agreements were signed today with the lenders, CDC IXIS, Paris, (EUR 49.5 M senior loan), and EBRD, London, (EUR 14.5 M, of which part convertible to equity). In addition to its role as co-developer, Skanska will carry out the construction work on a turnkey contract with a total value of EUR 55.4 M. Work on the 22-story, 5-star Westin Warsaw Hotel will commence immediately and completion is scheduled for spring 2003. The hotel operator will be Starwood, through its brand Westin. This first-class international business hotel will include 366 rooms, conference facilities, ballroom, restaurants and a fitness center. The 25,000-sq.m. building has been designed by architects John Portman and Associates, USA. The Westin Warsaw Hotel located at the corner of the Jana Pawla II and Grzybowska streets in central Warsaw is the latest phase of the Atrium Developments by Skanska and the City of Warsaw, which includes a total of 83,000-sq.m. of state-of-the-art office premises completed since 1994. Skanska is Poland's largest construction services company following the acquisition of Exbud, now Exbud Skanska, in 2000. Portman Holdings LP, is a private development company based in Atlanta, Georgia, with long experience in real estate development, design, management and finance, serving clients around the world. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 725 properties in 80 countries and 120,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. With internationally renowned brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchiser of hotels and resorts including: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For further information please contact: Anders Falkenius, Development Manager, Skanska Polska Sp.zo.o, Tel +48 22 653 87 00 Buddy Small, Director of Development, Portman Holdings, Tel +1 404 14 53 38 Marco Ferrari, VP Director of PR, Starwood Europe: Tel +39 064880225 This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/05/16/20010516BIT00870/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/05/16/20010516BIT00870/bit0001.pdf