St. John's, NL - (September 17, 2003) 

Fortis Properties Corporation announced today that it has entered into an agreement with FelCor Lodging Trust, the second largest lodging real estate investment trust in the U.S., to acquire four full service hotels in Ontario, Canada for a purchase price of $43.2 million. The transaction will be accretive to earnings in the first year of operations, and is expected to be completed by the end of September.

The properties are Holiday Inn® branded hotels and are located in Sarnia, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge and Peterborough in Ontario. The portfolio has a total of 630 rooms with the hotels ranging in size from 143 to 183 rooms. Fortis Properties will assume ownership and management of the hotel properties upon closing.

“Fortis Properties is pleased to acquire this portfolio of quality, successful hotels in the Ontario market. This acquisition is consistent with our strategy of profitable growth and marks a milestone as the Company’s first acquisition outside Atlantic Canada,” stated John Walker, President & Chief Executive Officer. “The acquisition is a significant step in expanding our hotel portfolio and broadening our geographic market base.”

The acquisition will increase Fortis Properties’ hotel portfolio by 50 percent, from eight to 12 hotels. The Ontario properties are complementary to current hotel operations and closely reflect the customer and operational profile of the Company’s existing hotels located throughout Atlantic Canada.

“We look forward to the over 400 employees joining our Fortis Properties’ team and working with us to upgrade these hotels and further enhance the overall guest experience,” added Walker.

Colliers International Hotels acted as the exclusive advisor in this transaction.

Fortis Properties Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortis Inc., is a leader in the ownership and management of office buildings, shopping centers and hotels. The Company owns and manages 2.7 million square feet of commercial real estate and eight hotels under various brands throughout Atlantic Canada. Parent company, Fortis Inc. is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol FTS. To find out more about Fortis Properties Corporation, visit our website at www.fortisproperties.com.

Fortis Properties includes forward-looking statements in this material. By their very nature, forward-looking statements are based on underlying assumptions and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary from plans, objectives and estimates. Such events include, but are not limited to, general economic market and business conditions, weather and competition. Fortis Properties cautions readers that should certain risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from those expected.

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