Wyndham Worldwide to acquire La Quinta

Wyndham Worldwide has announced an agreement to acquire La Quinta’s hotel franchise and hotel management businesses for $1.95 billion in cash.

La Quinta’s asset-light, fee-for-service business consists of nearly 900 managed and franchised hotels, which will now join Wyndham Hotel Group, which spans 21 brands and over 9,000 hotels across more than 75 countries.

The addition of La Quinta, one of the largest midscale brands in the industry, will build upon Wyndham Hotel Group’s strong midscale presence, expand its reach further into the fast-growing upper-midscale segment.

Stephen P. Holmes

Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and chief executive officer of Wyndham Worldwide, said: “This transaction builds on Wyndham Worldwide’s proven track record of acquiring companies that are a strong strategic and cultural fit, add highly-regarded brands to our portfolio and offer clear opportunities to drive shareholder value through growth, shared best practices and sharp execution.”

Flagship brand

Geoff Ballotti, president and chief executive officer of Wyndham Hotel Group, said: “La Quinta will immediately become one of our flagship brands. It is an exceptionally strong brand that is led by service-minded associates who deliver some of the highest customer engagement levels in our industry.

“We expect that La Quinta guests and franchisees will benefit from our intense focus on product quality and our best-in-class technology, digital, loyalty and distribution platforms. This acquisition also significantly expands our hotel management business and provides us with substantial new opportunities to drive increased growth in our business.”

Keith Cline, president and chief executive officer of La Quinta, added: “As we anticipated, the separation of our businesses is enabling greater strategic clarity and allowing our company to take advantage of growth opportunities that naturally flow from each business model.

“To that end, we are excited to announce the addition of the La Quinta franchise and management businesses to Wyndham Hotel Group’s portfolio. We believe that, under the management of Wyndham’s seasoned team of executives, the La Quinta portfolio will grow and thrive, yielding long-term benefits to the stakeholders of both companies.”

The transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is expected to close upon the completion of the planned spin-off of La Quinta’s owned real estate assets into the separate entity CorePoint Lodging Inc.