Jeffrey Donnelly Appointed Chief Executive
Officer; Briony Quinn Appointed Chief Financial Officer;
Justin Leonard Appointed President
Appointments Capitalize on DiamondRock's
Strong Bench and
Proven Talent to Drive Continued Business Momentum
Company Reaffirms 2024 Annual Guidance
BETHESDA, Md., April 15,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DiamondRock Hospitality Company
(the "Company") (NYSE: DRH), a lodging-focused real estate
investment trust that owns a portfolio of 36 premium hotels and
resorts in the United States,
today announced leadership changes and a simplified organizational
structure to drive continued business momentum:
- Jeffrey Donnelly, previously
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, has been
appointed Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Donnelly is expected to join
the Company's Board of Directors after the 2024 Annual Meeting of
Stockholders, which will be held in May. He succeeds Mark Brugger, who, after 20 years of service, is
departing the Company.
- Briony Quinn, previously Senior Vice President and Treasurer,
has been named Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
and Treasurer, succeeding Mr. Donnelly.
- Justin Leonard, formerly
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, has been
appointed President. Mr. Leonard will maintain his role as Chief
Operating Officer and will assume the responsibilities previously
overseen by Troy Furbay, Executive Vice President and Chief
Investment Officer, who is departing the Company.
With these changes, which are effective today, DiamondRock has
reduced its executive team structure from six to four members,
including the Company's Executive Vice President and General
Counsel.
"DiamondRock has a strong bench of talent and with accelerating
performance and a solid foundation in place, the Board believes now
is the right time to implement these changes and establish a
simpler executive structure that more closely aligns with the needs
of the business," said William W.
McCarten, Chairman of the DiamondRock Hospitality Company
Board.
"Jeff is the ideal person to serve as CEO having demonstrated
outstanding leadership and a keen understanding of our portfolio
and strategy since joining the Company in 2019. Briony and Justin
bring significant finance and transactional expertise,
respectively, to their new roles, and their promotions reflect the
contributions each has made to DiamondRock's success. As lodging
fundamentals continue to improve, we are confident that our new
leadership team will advance our strategy and propel additional
value creation," continued Mr. McCarten.
"I am excited to be CEO at the dawn of a new era for travel.
With our high-quality portfolio of unique lifestyle properties, we
are poised to capitalize on the long-term secular demand drivers in
the travel industry and deliver sustainable, profitable growth,"
said Mr. Donnelly. "The streamlined executive structure announced
today ensures we have the talent to capture this upside. I look
forward to continuing to collaborate with the Board and our highly
experienced executive team to create value for shareholders. I
would also like to thank Mark for his leadership in building a
great company, and I wish him great success in his future
endeavors."
"On behalf of the Board, I thank Mark and Troy for their
significant contributions, which have helped make DiamondRock the
industry leader it is today," Mr. McCarten added. "Mark co-founded
DiamondRock 20 years ago and during his tenure he led a successful
IPO, guided the expansion and diversification of the portfolio and
assembled an experienced and results-driven team. Troy's influence
on the Company is reflected in DiamondRock's growth and balanced
portfolio, which is ideally suited for the most dynamic trends in
travel over the next decade. We wish both Mark and Troy well."
Reaffirms 2024 Guidance
The Company is reaffirming its
expectations for its full year 2024 results, which were previously
announced in its earnings press release on February 22, 2024.
About Jeffrey J.
Donnelly
Jeffrey J.
Donnelly joined DiamondRock as Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer in August
2019. Prior to joining DiamondRock, Mr. Donnelly was
Managing Director of Equity Research at Wells Fargo Securities
where he co-founded Wells Fargo's Real Estate & Lodging Equity
Research Platform and had direct responsibility for over
$45 billion of equity transactions
over his 22-year career. Prior to Wells Fargo, Mr. Donnelly was
Assistant Vice President at AEW Capital Management, L.P. where he
had asset management responsibility for a 15 million square foot
diversified commercial real estate portfolio and executed property
and capital market transactions exceeding $5
billion.
Mr. Donnelly is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and
Certified Management Accountant (CMA). He earned a B.B.A. in
Finance from The George Washington
University and is Founder and Trustee of The
Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome Children's Foundation (RTSCF), a 501(c)3
foundation.
About Briony R. Quinn
Briony R. Quinn previously
served as Senior Vice President and Treasurer of DiamondRock since
March 2018. Ms. Quinn joined
DiamondRock in 2007 as Assistant Controller and was promoted to
Vice President and Corporate Controller in 2008 and to Chief
Accounting Officer in 2014. Prior to DiamondRock, Ms. Quinn was the
Vice President of Finance and Accounting for Meristar Hospitality
Corporation, a publicly-traded lodging real estate investment
trust. She previously held roles at a number of audit and
consulting firms, including Arthur Andersen and Beers &
Cutler
Ms. Quinn is a former certified public accountant. She holds a
B.S in Accounting with a minor in Finance from Providence College.
About Justin L.
Leonard
Justin L.
Leonard joined DiamondRock as Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer in July 2022.
Prior to joining DiamondRock, he was at Walton Street Capital for
23 years, most recently as a Senior Principal where he was
responsible for the oversight of the firm's hotel investments.
During his tenure at Walton Street, Mr. Leonard was involved in
over $3 billion in hospitality
transactions and directed the asset management of 60 branded and
independent hotels totaling over 20,000 rooms.
Mr. Leonard holds a B.B.A. in Real Estate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
About the Company
DiamondRock Hospitality
Company is a self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) that
is an owner of a leading portfolio of geographically diversified
hotels concentrated in leisure destinations and top gateway
markets. The Company currently owns 36 premium quality hotels with
over 9,700 rooms. The Company has strategically positioned its
portfolio to be operated both under leading global brand families
as well as independent boutique hotels in the lifestyle segment.
For further information on the Company and its portfolio, please
visit DiamondRock Hospitality Company's website at
www.drhc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release
contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal
securities laws and regulations. These forward-looking statements
are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe,"
"expect," "intend," "project," "forecast," "plan" and other similar
terms and phrases, including references to assumptions and
forecasts of future results. Forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the
forward-looking statements are made. These risks include, but are
not limited to: negative developments in the economy, including,
but not limited to elevated inflation and interest rates, job loss
or growth trends, an increase in unemployment or a decrease in
corporate earnings and investment, that could affect occupancy
rates at the Company's hotels and the demand for hotel products and
services; operating risks associated with the hotel business;
relationships with property managers; the ability to compete
effectively in areas such as access, location, quality of
accommodations and room rate structures; changes in travel
patterns, taxes and government regulations which influence or
determine wages, prices, construction procedures and costs;
risks associated with the availability and terms of financing
and the use of debt to fund acquisitions and renovations or
refinance existing indebtedness, including the impact of higher
interest rates on the cost and/or availability of financing; risks
associated with our level of indebtedness and our ability to
satisfy our obligations under our debt agreements; risks associated
with natural disasters caused by climate change or otherwise,
terrorist attacks, significant military actions, outbreaks of
contagious diseases, pandemics, or other widespread health
emergencies; and other risk factors contained in the Company's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the
Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no
assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any
deviation will not be material. All information in this release is
as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform the
statement to actual results or changes in the Company's
expectations.
Contacts
Briony Quinn, Chief Financial Officer, (240)
744-1196
Irene Chiao, VP Investor Relations,
(240) 641-6903
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SOURCE DiamondRock Hospitality Company