Eight-Site Wyndham Purchase Gets New Hotel Group Up & Running

DALLAS, TX— Wyndham International has reportedly sold eight of its Wyndham Garden Hotels, encompassing 1,376 rooms in eight different cities, to Aimbridge Hospitality here. In return for a purchase price reported as $46.5 million, it was noted the newly formed hotel-management group— headed by Wyndham’s former President and VP Les Bentley and Don Johnson, respectively— immediately becomes the largest single franchisee in Wyndham’s network. It was further pointed out the buyer’s equity was provided by Wyndham founder— and one of the organization’s largest shareholders— Crow Holdings of Dallas. Subsequent monies, in the form of an $18-million loan, were said to have been put up by Societe General of Paris. As Aimbridge President/CEO Johnson was quoted as saying: “The plan initially is to leave all [properties]flagged Wyndham, but we continue to explore all possibilities.” He reportedly added Aimbridge isnt “married” to picking up Wyndham properties alone, but rather is talking to almost every hotel chain now actively marketing assets. As such, reports cited Johnson as contending: “We are looking at just about every large public company in our industry that’s selling.” Accordingly, this fertile field is said to include the likes of FelCor Lodging Trust, MeriStar Hospitality Corp. and Host Marriott Corp. It was further reported that— while he wouldn’t say who might be involved— the new company has entered serious negotiations for seven more properties, two of which purportedly have a high probability of closing. The company’s initial transaction reportedly included locations in: Pleasanton, CA; Overland Park, KS; Wood Dale and Schaumburg, IL; Novi, MI; Charlotte, NC; Brookfield, WI; and right here in Dallas. SOURCE: Globestreet.com