“Meet the Shareholder Value Destroyers” Exposes Board’s Governance Failings and Ensuing Value Destruction

Recommends Stockholders Vote AGAINST the Election of Chairman Monty Bennett and Other Members of the Board on the GOLD Proxy Card Today

Encourages Stockholders to Review Blackwells’ Latest Presentation and Other Important Materials at http://www.montymustgo.com/

NEW YORK, May 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blackwells Capital LLC and Blackwells Onshore I LLC (together, “Blackwells”) collectively own 1,000 shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (“Ashford” or the “Company”) (NYSE: AHT). In connection with its campaign urging stockholders to vote “AGAINST” the election of Monty J. Bennett, Amish Gupta, J. Robison Hays, III, Kamal Jafarnia, David W. Johnson, Frederick J. Kleisner, Sheri L. Pantermuehl, Davinder “Sonny” Sra and Alan L. Tallis to the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) at the Company’s 2024 annual meeting of stockholders (the “2024 Annual Meeting”), which is scheduled to be held on May 14, 2024, today released a presentation to fellow stockholders available at www.montymustgo.com/letters-presentations.

In its presentation entitled “Meet the Shareholder Value Destroyers” Blackwells exposes the Board’s lack of alignment with stockholders, its poor corporate governance practices and its collection of unfit directors, who we believe have directly contributed to the massive destruction of value suffered by Ashford stockholders.

Jason Aintabi, Chief Investment Officer of Blackwells Capital LLC, said:

“In our view, the Board of Ashford is unfit and incapable of acting as independent fiduciaries for stockholders. Ashford has a policy that requires any directors who receive less than a majority of ‘for’ votes to immediately tender their resignation. We believe that, following the 2024 Annual Meeting, the failure for any director to abide by this policy—and for the Board to fail to accept such resignation—would be a disservice to all stockholders and would make a mockery of shareholder rights. We continue to urge our fellow stockholders to send a clear message to the Board by voting ‘AGAINST’ the election of the incumbent directors at the 2024 Annual Meeting.”

About Blackwells Capital

Blackwells Capital was founded in 2016 by Jason Aintabi, its Chief Investment Officer. Since that time, it has made investments in public securities, engaging with management and boards, both publicly and privately, to help unlock value for stakeholders, including stockholders, employees and communities. Throughout their careers, Blackwells’ principals have invested globally on behalf of leading public and private equity firms and have held operating roles and served on the boards of media, energy, technology, insurance and real estate enterprises. For more information, please visit www.blackwellscap.com.

Contacts

Stockholders
MacKenzie Partners, Inc.
Toll Free: +1 (800) 322-2885
proxy@mackenziepartners.com

Media
Gagnier Communications
Dan Gagnier & Riyaz Lalani
646-569-5897
blackwells@gagnierfc.com  

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Blackwells Capital LLC, Blackwells Onshore I LLC, and Jason Aintabi (collectively, the “Participants”) are participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of the Company for the 2024 Annual Meeting. On May 2, 2024, the Participants filed with the SEC their definitive proxy statement and accompanying GOLD proxy card in connection with their solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of the Company.

ALL STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE ADVISED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT, THE ACCOMPANYING GOLD PROXY CARD AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE SOLICITATION OF PROXIES BY THE PARTICIPANTS, AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION, INCLUDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATED TO THE PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR DIRECT OR INDIRECT INTERESTS IN THE COMPANY, BY SECURITY HOLDINGS OR OTHERWISE.

The definitive proxy statement and an accompanying GOLD proxy card will be furnished to some or all of the Company’s stockholders and are, along with other relevant documents, available at no charge on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov/. In addition, the Participants will provide copies of the definitive proxy statement without charge, upon request. Requests for copies should be directed to Blackwells.