Saturday, May 3, 2008

Great Wolf Resorts Obtains Construction Loan for Great Wolf Lodge at Concord, N.C.

MADISON, WI—Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: WOLF), North America’s leading family of indoor waterpark resorts, has announced that the company has closed on a construction loan of $63.9 million to fund a portion of the total costs of the company’s Great Wolf Lodge Lodge® resort under construction in Concord, NC.

The four-year loan is potentially expandable to a maximum principal amount of up to $79.9 million. The Concord resort is on schedule to open in Spring 2009.
Marshall Financial Group is the lender and administrative agent for the new loan.

As of April 30, 2008, Marshall has obtained firm funding commitments from a group of lenders for approximately $63.9 million for the loan. Marshall and Great Wolf Resorts expect to continue to seek additional commitments to increase the balance of the loan toward the $79.9 million potential maximum amount over the next 90 days.

“Our ability to complete a large construction loan in this challenging credit environment underscores the confidence the financial community has in Great Wolf Resorts and the merits of this project,” commented James A. Calder, Great Wolf Resorts chief financial officer.

“With the combination of this loan, cash on hand and expected cash to be provided from operations, we believe we have the liquidity to complete construction of both our Concord resort and our major expansion at our existing Grapevine resort.

"We will continue to explore opportunities to further increase our liquidity through borrowings on our unlevered or lower-levered assets, while maintaining a prudently leveraged balance sheet.”

“This is Marshall’s fourth loan with Great Wolf Resorts, a valued client of our company,” said Scott Anderson, Marshall’s president and chief executive officer. “We believe our ability to execute this loan in a difficult debt environment is a tribute to the strength of the Great Wolf Lodge brand.”

CONTACTS:

Julie Tullbane
Daly Gray Public Relations
T 703-435-6293
F 703-435-6297
julie@dalygray.com


Jennifer Beranek
Media
608 661 4764

Alex Lombardo
Investors
703 573 9317

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