Choice Hotels International has announced plans to acquire the Radisson Hotel Group Americas — including Radisson’s franchise business, operations and intellectual property — for a cool $675 million.
Radisson Hotel Group Americas separated from Brussels-headquartered parent company Radisson last year and includes nine brands comprising 624 properties in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Altogether, the acquisition will add more than 68,000 guest rooms in the upscale and upper-midscale hospitality segments, especially in the U.S. West Coast and Midwestern regions.
The Radisson Hotel Group Americas brands’ larger room counts and location in generally higher RevPAR markets are consistent with Choice’s long-term strategy of growing in higher revenue segments.
“Choice has a well-established history of smart acquisitions in new segments where our world-class franchising engine can spur future growth,” said Patrick Pacious, President and Chief Executive Officer of Choice Hotels. “This transaction brings together two highly complementary businesses, enhancing our guest offerings in the core upper-midscale hospitality segments, while extending our reach into the upper upscale and upscale full-service segments and in higher revenue geographic markets. We are confident that guests and franchisees will significantly benefit by combining these two exceptional sets of brands.”
Choice Hotels already includes almost 7,000 hotels representing nearly 600,000 guest rooms in 35 countries and territories. However, many of those brands, such as Comfort and Econo Lodge, are focused more on the leisure and business travel markets.
Radisson Hotel Group Americas brings a more upscale group of hotels to the Choice party, including 10 Radisson Blu hotels and 130 Radisson hotels. “This transaction brings together two highly complementary businesses, enhancing our guest offerings in the core upper-midscale hospitality segments, while extending our reach into the upper upscale and upscale full-service segments and in higher revenue geographic markets,” Pacious said.
Tom Buoy, interim CEO of Radisson Hotel Group Americas, said, “Our associates have been working hard to solidify the power of our brands, build a better commercial engine and offer best-in-class solutions to franchisees and customers. We believe that this acquisition will drive growth in a highly competitive market and enable stronger performance for our franchisees.”
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