MADISON REALTY CAPITAL AND NEWBOND HOLDINGS LAUNCH HOSPITALITY LENDING PLATFORM WITH INVESTING CAPACITY OF $500M

Strategic Partnership to Originate and Purchase Hospitality Loans Across All Major US Markets as Madison Newbond

NEW YORK, Nov. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Madison Realty Capital, a vertically integrated real estate private equity firm focused on debt and equity investment strategies, and Newbond Holdings (Newbond), a vertically integrated real estate investment and operating platform founded by Neil Luthra and Vann Avedisian, today announced the launch of Madison Newbond, an institutional lending platform that will provide first mortgages, mezzanine loans and preferred equity to hotel owners and developers nationwide.  The partnership launched with approximately $500 million of initial lending capacity and will add scale in line with the opportunity.

Madison Newbond will build on Madison Realty Capital’s institutional lending platform and deep relationships as well as Newbond’s hospitality industry expertise and strong operational knowledge. The partnership will offer unique financing programs to new and existing borrowers across the hospitality spectrum from limited-service hotels to ultra-luxury resorts and will target opportunities including transitional lending and ground up developments across major metropolitan markets.

“The hospitality industry has experienced significant disruption throughout the pandemic and there is a clear need for creative and flexible lending solutions for hotel owners as they continue to recover from the changes to their business plans,” said Josh Zegen, Managing Principal and Co-Founder of Madison Realty Capital. “We are enthusiastic about joining forces with Newbond to expand our product offering tailored to meet the evolving needs of hospitality real estate owners and operators.”

“We are excited to launch this partnership with Madison Realty Capital, a firm with a world-class lending platform, and a team that we are deeply familiar with, to provide a wide range of lending options to the hospitality market,” said Neil Luthra, Founding Partner at Newbond. “Madison’s substantial resources coupled with Newbond’s extensive hotel underwriting capabilities will best position the platform to identify and capitalize on exciting opportunities in the hospitality space.”

Madison Realty Capital and the principals of Newbond have significant experience lending and investing in the hospitality sector.  The principals of Newbond have completed over $15 billion of debt and equity investments.  Notable recent Madison Realty Capital transactions include a $105 million loan to Fort Partners for the acquisition and modernization of the Four Seasons Hotel Miami and a $210 million loan to Fort Partners for the construction of the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Fort Lauderdale.

For any financing inquiries or to request additional information about the Madison Newbond platform, please contact Andrew Fichte, a partner at Newbond, at afichte@newbond.com and Josh Zegen, at josh@madisonrealtycapital.com.

About Madison Realty Capital 

Madison Realty Capital is a vertically integrated real estate private equity firm that manages approximately $6.7 billion in total assets on behalf of an institutional global investor base. Since 2004, Madison Realty Capital has completed more than $16 billion in transactions in the U.S. providing reputable borrowers with flexible and highly customized financing solutions, strong underwriting capabilities, and certainty of execution. Headquartered in New York City, with an office in Los Angeles, the firm has over 60 employees across all real estate investment, development, and property management disciplines. Madison Realty Capital has been frequently named to the Commercial Observer’s prestigious “Power 100” list of New York City real estate players and is consistently cited as a top construction lender, among other industry recognitions. To learn more, follow us on LinkedIn and visit www.madisonrealtycapital.com.

About Newbond Holdings 

Newbond Holdings, founded by Neil Luthra and Vann Avedisian in 2021, is a real estate investment and operating platform focused on debt and equity investments across multiple real estate product types with a hospitality focus as well as investments in related operating businesses and technology platforms.  The partners at Newbond have completed over $15 billion of debt and equity transactions.  As a vertically integrated operating and investment platform, Newbond is uniquely positioned to create significant value beyond the typical investment process through creative structuring, operations and the development of single and multiple asset brands.

Attachments

For Madison Realty Capital: Nathaniel Garnick/Grace Cartwright
Gasthalter & Co.
(212) 257-4170
madisonrealty@gasthalter.com

For Newbond: Eric Waters
Great Ink Communications, Ltd.
212-741-2977
Eric.Waters@greatink.com

Tom Nolan
Great Ink Communications, Ltd.
212-741-2977
Tom@greatink.com

Barrows Hotel Enterprises Considers SPAC Merger

Barrows Hotel Enterprises

Barrows Hotel Enterprises Considers Merger

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Barrows, the provider of hotel investment and advisory services for hotels in the Middle East and Africa is considering going public by a merger within twelve months. The company is therefore considering using a SPAC Merger structure to list on the Nasdaq.

With a SPAC Merger, Barrows could be worth over $500 million. The company has become known for property development and providing financing of hotel real estate in the Middle East and Africa. The company also provides corporate advice for hotel owners and hotel operators. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Barrows closed long-term partnerships with investors from Russia, Africa and the United States.

The capital that Barrows should raise with the merger will be used for in-depth investments and making acquisitions within the industry, according to Barrows Chairman Erwin Jager. Barrows has grown rapidly in recent years and wants to increase further its market position in the coming years. The Hotel Industry is growing rapidly and with Barrows we can add value in many ways and with new technologies.

Barrows Hotel Enterprises internationally manages over 10,000 hotel rooms in more than 10 countries. The company started in 2008 as a real estate investor in the residential market in Dubai. Since 2012, Barrows has changed its strategy and the company is fully focused on the fast-growing hotel industry in the Middle East. Since 2020 Barrows is active in the African Continent.

For more information:
media@barrowshotel.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3f681a95-c3b5-41e9-81f6-8f617660f53c

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) linked with improved health outcomes in largest-ever real-world analysis of lower extremity peripheral vascular interventions

November 8, 2021

  • Independent analysis includes Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data from over 700,000 peripheral arterial and peripheral venous intervention patients
  • Data demonstrate a 32% reduction in major adverse limb events, such as amputations, during lower extremity arterial intervention
  • When iliofemoral venous* stenting was guided by IVUS, there was a 31% reduction in the composite outcome of repeat intervention, hospitalization or death, together with a reduced risk of stent thrombosis, embolization and stenosis
  • First real-world study by the Smith Center for Outcomes Research shows the value of IVUS in broad peripheral vascular patient populations, emphasizing the importance of IVUS in optimizing patient care

Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology and IVUS solutions, today announced the results of a new large-scale real-world analysis of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data on the health outcomes of peripheral vascular interventions guided by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). The study was conducted independently by the Smith Center for Outcomes Research, with the results presented at the 2021 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting by Eric A. Secemsky, MD, Director of Vascular Intervention and Interventional Cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. The study, supported by Philips, underlines the company’s commitment to a strong evidence base for its innovations in the pursuit of better patient outcomes, enhanced patient and staff experiences, and lower cost of care.

Numerous prospective studies have already shown the benefit of IVUS guidance in peripheral vascular interventions, making it a gold-standard imaging modality for this application. The new study results now show that the outcome observations from these prior studies apply directly to a broader peripheral arterial and peripheral venous intervention patient population, demonstrating strong support for the use of IVUS during peripheral interventions.

“The results of this large-scale study demonstrate favorable long-term outcomes in peripheral vascular interventions when IVUS is used,” said Eric Secemsky, MD. “This analysis, combined with the recent appropriate use consensus on IVUS that was presented at VIVA in October, highlights a clear opportunity to improve health outcomes for millions of patients by broader and more routine implementation of the technology in clinical practice. This is a moment for us to further our efforts in saving lives and saving limbs.”

Peripheral artery disease (PAD): a 32% reduction in major adverse limb events, including amputations, during lower extremity arterial interventions
The study looked at Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years or older who underwent lower extremity arterial interventions between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2019. Among 697,794 interventions, the investigators found a 32% reduction in major adverse limb events, such as amputations, over a median 425 days of follow-up. These findings were consistent across disease states, including critical limb ischemia and non-critical limb ischemia, as well as arterial segments such as the iliac (hip area), femoropopliteal (upper leg area) and tibial (lower leg area).

Peripheral artery disease develops when plaque builds up in the vessel wall and reduces blood flow to the limbs, most commonly the legs. It affects more than 8.5 million people in the USA [1]. PAD symptoms include recurrent fatigue, leg pain, and foot or leg wounds that do not heal or heal very slowly. Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is an advanced stage of PAD and is typically associated with high rates of cardiovascular events, amputations, and mortality. CLI patients have low survival rates, with 5-year mortality exceeding 50% [2].

Chronic venous disease (CVD): a 31% reduction in repeat intervention, hospitalization, or death during iliofemoral venous stenting
Separately, the investigators examined Medicare beneficiary data for patients treated between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2019, in multiple clinical settings, including hospital in-patient settings, hospital outpatient centers, and private office-based clinics, involving 20,984 individual patients. Of these, 72% underwent stenting guided by IVUS. When IVUS was used, there was a 31% reduction in the composite outcome of repeat intervention, hospitalization, or death. In addition, IVUS use reduced the risk of stent thrombosis, embolization and stenosis.

Chronic venous disease (CVD) is both a common and underappreciated problem impacting over 30 million Americans [3]. Advanced CVD impacts over 6 million people in the USA and iliofemoral venous obstruction costs as much as USD 3 billion per year for ulcer care in advanced presentations [4].

“We commend Dr. Secemsky and the Smith Center for Outcomes Research for this on-going study to simplify clinical procedures and improve clinical and patient outcomes,” said Chris Landon, Senior Vice President and General Manager Image Guided Therapy Devices at Philips. “We are committed to supporting evidence-based medical guidelines in pursuit of better patient outcomes. We believe that the ability of IVUS to deliver procedure optimization and confidence enhances patient and staff experiences and lowers cost of care.”

First-ever global consensus for the appropriate use of IVUS in PVD interventions
In October 2021, a team of clinical experts led by Eric Secemsky, MD, established the first-ever global, cross-specialty expert consensus for the appropriate use of IVUS in peripheral vascular disease interventions. This initiative was jointly supported by Philips and Boston Scientific. Today, healthcare providers’ use of IVUS in PVD interventions is not standardized and is therefore inconsistent. The new appropriate-use expert consensus may help establish global standards of care to adopt into guidelines and improve quality of care in PVD.

To achieve consensus, the broad, multi-disciplinary group of global experts used a rigorous methodology. They conducted a systematic and comprehensive review of key clinical IVUS scenarios and decision-making processes before voting on the appropriate use consensus. Through this methodology, the group has established a clinical consensus to identify the optimal use of IVUS and potential knowledge gaps in order to set a standard across clinical specialties and drive positive outcomes for patients. Their findings were shared at a special symposium during Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) 2021.

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)
Philips is the global leader in IVUS solutions, which are part of the company’s comprehensive portfolio of systems, smart devices, software, and services for peripheral vascular disease aimed at helping clinicians decide, guide, treat, and confirm the right therapy for each patient during their procedure. Phased-array IVUS is an important imaging tool used during venous and arterial interventions. It provides the fast plug-and-play usability and high-fidelity image resolution needed for pre-procedural planning, intra-procedural guidance, and post-procedural optimization of therapy for patients. Using a miniaturized ultrasound transducer mounted on the tip of a catheter, it captures real-time images of vascular disease inside vessels, enabling physicians to standardize and improve procedure care for their patients. Additional workflow optimization is enabled by integrated suite offerings such as Philips’ Azurion 7 with IntraSight platform.

*The venous at the hip joint where the veins from the left and right leg come together into the abdominal aorta
[1] https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001005
[2] Duff S, Mafilios MS, Bhounsule P, Hasegawa JT. The burden of critical limb ischemia: a review of recent literature. Vasc Health Risk Manag. 2019;15:187-208. Published 2019 Jul 1. doi:10.2147/VHRM.S209241 & https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1358863X211028298
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5920451/
[4] https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.006898

For further information, please contact:

Joost Maltha
Philips Global Press Office
Tel: +31 6 10 55 8116
Email: joost.maltha@philips.com

Fabienne van der Feer
Philips Image Guided Therapy
Tel: + 31 622 698 001
E-mail: fabienne.van.der.feer@philips.com

About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people’s health and well-being, and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum – from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2020 sales of EUR 17.3 billion and employs approximately 78,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.

Attachments

Brunei Logs 40 New COVID-19 Cases, 13,782 Cases In Total

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov 8 (NNN-ANN) – Brunei reported 40 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total tally to 13,782.

According to Brunei’s Ministry of Health, all the newly recorded cases were local infections.

While the source of 16 local infections was still under investigation, no new clusters have been detected, and one cluster was closed, following no new cases in the cluster for 28 days, bringing the total number of active clusters to 183.

A total of 12,603 recoveries have been reported, and 1,085 active cases are still being treated and monitored in Brunei.

Ninety-four patients have passed away, so far, in the country.

 

Source: NAM News Network

COVID-19 Cases Rise To 506,816 In Myanmar

YANGON – The number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar rose to 506,816 yesterday, after 818 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours, according to a release from the Ministry of Health.

The release said, 17 new deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 18,821 in the country, as of yesterday.

A total of 478,233 patients have been discharged from hospitals and over five million samples have been tested for COVID-19, so far.

Over 8.24 million people have been fully vaccinated nationwide, while over 5.65 million people have received the first jabs of COVID-19 vaccines, as of Saturday, the release said.

Myanmar detected its first two COVID-19 cases on Mar 23, last year.

 

 

 

Source: NAM News Network

Sharp jump in number of people facing famine: UN

ROME— The UN’s food agency said the number of people on the edge of famine in 43 countries had risen to 45 million, as acute hunger spikes around the world.

The jump from 42 million people earlier in the year was largely down to a food security assessment that found another 3 million people facing famine in Afghanistan, the World Food Programme (WFP) said.

“Tens of millions of people are staring into an abyss. We’ve got conflict, climate change and COVID-19 driving up the numbers of the acutely hungry,” WFP Executive Director David Beasley said.

“And the latest data show there are now more than 45 million people marching towards the brink of starvation,” he said after a trip to Afghanistan, where WFP is upping support for almost 23 million people.

“Fuel costs are up, food prices are soaring, fertiliser is more expensive, and all of this feeds into new crises like the one unfolding now in Afghanistan, as well as long-standing emergencies like Yemen and Syria,” he added.

WFP said the cost of averting famine globally now stands at 7 billion dollars, up from 6.6 billion dollars earlier in the year, but warned that traditional funding streams were overstretched.

Families facing acute food insecurity are being “forced to make devastating choices”, marrying off children early, pulling them out of school or feeding them locusts, wild leaves, or cactus.

“Meanwhile media reports from Afghanistan point to families reportedly being forced to sell their children in a desperate attempt to survive,” it said.

Multiple droughts in Afghanistan were combining with an economic meltdown to push families to the edge, while about 12.4 million people in Syria do not know where their next meal will come from – more than any time during the decade-long conflict, it said.

Increases in acute hunger are also being seen in Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia, Angola, Kenya, and Burundi, the Rome-based agency said.

 

Source: NAM News Network

Seven Prisoners Escape From Prison In NE Cambodia: Police Chief

PHNOM PENH, Nov 8 (NNN-AKP) – Seven dangerous escapees are being sought, after breaking out of the Stung Treng Provincial Prison, in North-eastern Cambodia early today, said Major General Aun Sivutha, police chief of Stung Treng province.

The seven inmates were spending their prison terms, ranging from four years to life imprisonment, for drug trafficking and theft, he said.

“They first escaped from their prison cell and then, they used tools and sticks taken from a workshop, to make a hole in the prison’s concrete wall and escaped shortly after 3:00 a.m. local time,” Sivutha said.

“When our guards saw them escaping, they gave chase and fired warning shots, but could not stop them,” he said. “Currently, our authorities across the province are hunting for them.”

In Aug, four inmates broke out of the Southern Kandal Provincial Prison, while the guards locked them in a gym, but they broke through a fence. However, they were all recaptured soon after the breakout.

 

Source: NAM News Network

Chile’s desert dumping ground for fast fashion leftovers

ALTO HOSPICIO (Chile), Nov 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A mountain of discarded clothing including Christmas sweaters and ski boots cuts a strange sight in Chile’s Atacama, the driest desert in the world, which is increasingly suffering from pollution created by fast fashion.

The social impact of rampant consumerism in the clothing industry – such as child labor in factories or derisory wages – is well-known, but the disastrous effect on the environment is less publicised.

Chile has long been a hub of secondhand and unsold clothing, made in China or Bangladesh and passing through Europe, Asia or the United States before arriving in Chile, where it is resold around Latin America.

About 59,000 tons of clothing arrive each year at the Iquique port in the Alto Hospicio free zone in northern Chile.

Clothing merchants from the capital Santiago, 1,800km to the south, buy some, while much is smuggled out to other Latin American countries. But at least 39,000 tons that cannot be sold end up in rubbish dumps in the desert.

“This clothing arrives from all over the world,” Alex Carreno, a former employee in the port’s import area, said.

“What is not sold to Santiago nor sent to other countries stays in the free zone” as no one pays the necessary tariffs to take it away.

“The problem is that the clothing is not biodegradable and has chemical products, so it is not accepted in the municipal landfills,” said Franklin Zepeda, the founder of EcoFibra, a company that makes insulation panels using discarded clothing.

“I wanted to stop being the problem and start being the solution,” he said about the firm he created in 2018.

According to a 2019 UN report, global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014, and the industry is “responsible for 20 per cent of total water waste on a global level”.

To make a single pair of jeans requires 7,500 liters of water.

The same report said that clothing and footwear manufacturing contributes 8 per cent of global greenhouse gases, and that “every second, an amount of textiles equivalent to a garbage truck is buried or burnt”.

Whether the clothing piles are left out in the open or buried underground, they pollute the environment, releasing pollutants into the air or underground water channels.

Clothing, either synthetic or treated with chemicals, can take 200 years to biodegrade and is as toxic as discarded tires or plastics.

Not all the clothing goes to waste: Some of the poorest people from this region of 300,000 inhabitants pick through the dumps to find things they need or can sell in their local neighborhood.

Venezuelan migrants Sofia and Jenny, who crossed into Chile only a few days earlier on a 350km journey, search through a clothing pile as their babies crawl over it.

The women are looking for “things for the cold”, given the desert’s nighttime temperatures drop to levels unheard of in their tropical homeland.

Chile, the richest country in South America, is known for the voracious consumerism of its inhabitants.

Fast fashion advertising “has helped to convince us that clothing makes us more attractive, that it makes us stylish and even cures our anxiety”, said Monica Zarini, who makes lamp shades, notebooks, containers and bags from recycled clothing.

Things are changing, though, according to Rosario Hevia, who opened a store to recycle children’s clothes before founding in 2019 Ecocitex, a company that creates yarn from pieces of discarded textiles and clothing in a poor state. The process uses neither water nor chemicals.

“For many years we consumed, and no one seemed to care that more and more textile waste was being generated,” she said.

“But now, people are starting to question themselves.”

 

Source: NAM News Network