Decision Does not Affect the Court Decision Regarding the Acquisition of The Hotel Rio Palace By BHG Group

SAO PAULO, Oct. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Judiciary granted suspensive effects to the appeal filed by Nova Riotel Empreendimentos Hoteleiros Ltda. ("Nova Riotel") before the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice related to the acquisition of the Hotel Rio Palace ("Hotel") by BHG Group (BM&FBovespa: BHGR3; OTC: BZHGY ).

Such decision is solely related to the suspensive effects to the appeal filed by Nova Riotel before the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice and does not imply in the acceptance or judgment of the merits involving the acquisition of the Hotel by BHG Group, which are currently under jurisdiction of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice.

The BHG Group is confident in its right to acquire the Hotel, already recognized by unanimous decision of the 4th Civil Court of the State of Rio de Janeiro (4a Camara Civel do Tribunal de Justica do Rio de Janeiro), which was not reversed, and will pursue all applicable legal instruments to preserve it.

Brief summary of the acquisition of the Hotel by the BHG Group

The BHG Group, through Melongena Empreendimentos 1 Ltda., entered into with Veplan Hoteis e Turismo S.A. ("Veplan"), in August 17, 2011, the public deed of purchase and sale of the Hotel. The public deed was drown up after the judicial homologation of the Private Instrument of Purchase and Sale Commitment (Instrumento Particular de Promessa de Compra e Venda), dated as of August 26, 2010 and amended on September 2, 2010, executed by and between BHG and Veplan ("Purchase and Sale Commitment"), pursuant to the unanimous decision of the 4th Civil Court of the State of Rio de Janeiro (4a Camara Civel do Tribunal de Justica do Rio de Janeiro) granted in July 6, 2011.

However, the 6th Comercial Lower Court of the State of Rio de Janeiro (6a Vara Empresarial da Comarca do Rio de Janeiro), in a lower court judgment, recognized an alleged right of first refusal of Nova Riotel to the acquisition of the Hotel, as tenant of such property, even though the acquisition by BGH has occurred within the scope of a judicial procedure.

The BHG Group filed, on January 9, 2012, an interlocutory appeal before the 4th Civil Court of the State of Rio de Janeiro (4a Camara Civel do Tribunal de Justica do Rio de Janeiro), which reversed the lower court decision on May 23, 2012, in order to reject the alleged right of first refusal of Nova Riotel and to ratify, therefore, the validity and the effectiveness of the acquisition of the Hotel by the BHG Group. The 4th Civil Court of the State of Rio de Janeiro (4a Camara Civel do Tribunal de Justica do Rio de Janeiro), by unanimous decision, decided in favor of the BHG Group in all aspects and ratified the effectiveness of the acquisition of the Hotel by BHG.

Notwithstanding, Nova Riotel filed, on June 5, 2012, an appeal requesting the clarification of such decision, indicating alleged omission, obscurity and contradictions on the referred decision in favor of BGH. On July 11, 2012, the 4th Civil Court of the State of Rio de Janeiro (4a Camara Civel do Tribunal de Justica do Rio de Janeiro) judged such appeal, accepting it only in order to insert additional clarification, without changing the result of the previous court decision, favorable to BGH Group.

On August 6, 2012, Nova Riotel filed an appeal to the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice against the decisions of the State Court of Rio de Janeiro, and a Preliminary Injunction with the purpose to obtain suspensive effects to such appeal. Such claim was accepted on August 27, 2012, as mentioned above, and, although BHG Group requested the revision of such decision, the decision was maintained.

As mentioned, the BHG Group is pursuing all applicable legal instruments to overcome as soon as possible this temporary impediment to the formalization of the acquisition.

Who we are:

BHG S.A. - Brazil Hospitality Group, the country's third largest hotel chain, is the first Brazilian company to operate in the real estate segment specializing in business tourism hotels, with owned and managed hotels in the 3-, 4- and 5-star categories. The Company currently has 48 hotels, with 8,539 rooms in operation, and 22 projects under development.

The exclusive contract with Golden Tulip Hospitality Group in South America allows it to use the Royal Tulip (5-star), Golden Tulip (4-star) and Tulip Inn (3-star) brands.  BHG also has the Soft Inn brand, used for limited-service 2-star hotels, which offer an attractive cost-benefit ratio for corporate tourism.

BHG is a publicly-held company with shares traded on the Novo Mercado segment of the BM&FBovespa under the ticker BHGR3, and a Level I ADR program for trading its shares on the over-the-counter (OTC) market in New York, United States, under the ticker BZHGY. In September 2012, BHG announced the beginning of a Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes (FIP) [Private Equity Fund], with the purpose of investing in the development of greenfield real estate projects in the domestic hotel sector, in the midscale category. The development of greenfield hotels will be one of the key growth drivers for BHG in the coming years.

Media Relations
BHG S.A. - Brazil Hospitality Group
Fernanda Pannunzio
[email protected]
+55 11.3577.2302 / +55 11.99668.7249
www.bhg.net

SOURCE BHG S.A. - Brazil Hospitality Group