Arthur Andersen Real Estate & Hospitality Services Group Names Carl Berquist as Worldwide Director.

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WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 11, 2000

The Arthur Andersen Real Estate and Hospitality Services Group (REHSG) has named Carl Berquist as its Worldwide Director. Berquist, who has served as the REHSG Deputy Director, replaces Gary Lenz, who has resigned to join Peregrine Systems.

According to Joe Reichner, U.S. Industry Managing Partner, "Our firm's Real Estate and Hospitality Services Group has been enormously successful during the past four years. The industry leadership demonstrated has been a direct result of the vision and guidance of Gary Lenz and his advisory partner council members, led by Carl Berquist and Edward Constantino. We are confident that Carl will continue that same record of leadership in guiding the REHSG to deliver strategic, integrated solutions to our clients."

Berquist, a partner in the Washington, D.C. practice, has more than 26 years of experience in serving public and privately held multi-location real estate and hospitality clients. He has served as the head of Arthur Andersen's Southeast U.S. region real estate practice, which includes 200 professionals in 15 offices. He has had significant experience in the areas of both public and private offerings, financial forecasts, industry accounting problems and joint venture formations.

"Our vision is to continue to expand on the strategic support we deliver to our clients in order to help them compete against the uncertainties in the new economy," said Berquist. "One way we will execute this vision is to aggressively pursue opportunities to help companies who are looking for ways to better integrate technology and eBusiness platforms with their traditional business models. We believe our approach will support the abilities of these companies to focus on their core businesses while capturing new opportunities in the new economy."

"To accomplish this, we will continue to hire the best and the brightest professionals both in our traditional service lines as well as in new areas that support our clients' strategic business plans for the 21st century," he added.

Arthur Andersen was ranked as the Overall Client Satisfaction leader for the third year in a row in the 2000-2001 Emerson Client Satisfaction Study for the Real Estate/Construction/Hospitality Industry. The client satisfaction study was conducted by Emerson Research Company, Ltd., which has provided independent market research and information services focused on the Big Five accounting and business consulting firms since 1983.

In addition, Arthur Andersen's REHSG has been a leader in the development of research in eBusiness and its impact on real estate, recently publishing two research reports. The first -- "eReal Estate: A Virtual Certainty. The Impact of eBusiness and the Internet on Commercial Real Estate," was conducted in partnership with The Rosen Consulting Group. The second report, "eReal Estate Companies: The Impact of eBusiness and the Internet in the New Economy," examined strategy implications for real estate companies.

Many REHSG partners make ongoing contributions to professional associations and other organizations in the real estate and hospitality industries. The firm is committed to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), the Urban Land Institute (ULI), National Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives (NACORE International), the International Development Research Council (IDRC), Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), National Realty Committee (NRC), Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), Hospitality Finance and Technology Professionals (HFTP), and International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IH&RA). The firm also conducts research into megatrends, as well as regularly publishing reports and journals for the real estate and hospitality industries.

Arthur Andersen's vision is to be the partner for success in the new economy. The firm helps clients find new ways to create, manage and measure value in the rapidly changing global economy. With world-class skills in assurance, tax, consulting and corporate finance, Arthur Andersen has more than 77,000 people in more than 84 countries who are united by a single worldwide operating structure that fosters inventiveness, knowledge sharing and a focus on client success. Since its beginning in 1913, Arthur Andersen has realized 86 years of uninterrupted growth, with 1999 revenues over $7 billion. Arthur Andersen is a business unit of Andersen Worldwide.

For additional information, contact Amy M. Griffin in Arthur Andersen's San Diego office at 619/699-6972 or via e-mail at [e-mail].

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