WEH Westcoast Hosp Cp

WestCoast Hospitality Corporation Announces Closing of $40 Million Trust Preferred Offering and Redemption of Preferred Stock SPOKANE, Wash., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WestCoast Hospitality Corporation (the "Company") today announced the closing of the public offering of $40 million of trust preferred securities by WestCoast Hospitality Capital Trust, a Delaware statutory trust sponsored by the Company. The securities, which have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbolWEHPrA, are entitled to cumulative cash distributions at a 9.5% annual rate and will mature on February 24, 2044. The trust used the proceeds of the offering to purchase from the Company $40 million of its junior subordinated debentures with payment terms that mirror the distribution terms of the trust preferred securities. After payment of underwriting commissions and expenses of the trust preferred offering, the Company realized net proceeds of approximately $38.4 million from the debenture sale. The Company applied approximately $29.8 million of these proceeds to redeem in full all outstanding shares of its Series A and Series B preferred stock. The Company will use the balance of the net proceeds for general corporate purposes. Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., Inc. is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering, and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC is serving as co-manager. The Company has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional $6 million of trust preferred securities to cover over-allotments, which may be exercised by the underwriters until March 19, 2004. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. No sale of, offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy the trust preferred securities shall be made in any state or jurisdiction in which such a sale, offer or solicitation would be unlawful. WestCoast Hospitality Corporation is a hospitality and leisure company primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development and franchising of mid-scale, full service hotels under its WestCoast(R) and Red Lion(R) brands. In addition, through its entertainment division, which includes its TicketsWest.com Inc. subsidiary, it engages in event ticket distribution and promotes and presents a variety of entertainment productions. G&B Real Estate Services, its real estate division, engages in traditional real estate-related services, including developing, managing and acting as a broker for sales and leases of commercial and multi-unit residential properties. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities law, including statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, projections of future events or performance and underlying assumptions (many of which are based, in turn upon further assumptions). The forward-looking statements in this press release are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, economic cycles; international conflicts; changes in future demand and supply for hotel rooms; competitive conditions in the lodging industry; relationships with franchisees and properties; impact of government regulations; ability to obtain financing; changes in energy, healthcare, insurance and other operating expenses; ability to sell non-core assets; ability to locate lessees for rentalproperty and managing and leasing properties owned by third parties; dependency upon the ability and experience of executive officers and ability to retain or replace such officers as well as other matters discussed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the 2002 fiscal year and in other documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact: Stephen Barbieri Title: VP, Communications Phone: +1-509-323-7211 Internet: http://www.redlion.com/ http://www.westcoasthotels.com/ http://www.ticketswest.com/ http://www.g-b.com/ DATASOURCE: WestCoast Hospitality Corporation CONTACT: Stephen Barbieri, VP, Communications of WestCoast Hospitality Corporation, +1-509-323-7211, or Web site: http://www.westcoasthotels.com/

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