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CHICAGO-Hyatt Corp. plans to purchase the 143-unitAmeriSuites hotel brand from affiliates of The Blackstone Group. The company said it would form Global Hyatt Corp., a parent company including Hyatt hotels Corp. and Hyatt International Corp. on Dec. 31, 2004. Analysts said that move could make it easier for the company to go public.
Hyatt will pay more than $600 million for AmeriSuites, an upscale limited-service all-suites brand, according to The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Associated Press. Hyatt officials declined to confirm the price, but said it was a cash deal.
The company will invest $ 150 million in the brand and plans to attach the Hyatt name to it by the end of 2006, according to Jim Abrahamson, senior v.p. of acquisitions and development for Hyatt Corp.
Abrahamson, the former president of Baymont Inns and Woodfield Suites, joined Hyatt last fall after The Marcus Corp. sold Baymont and Woodfield to La Quinta Corp. He will be responsible for all operational aspects of the AmeriSuites business. Mike Leven, founder, c.e.o. and president of US Franchise Systems, a Hyatt subsidiary with nearly 500 hotel franchises open or under construction, will franchise the AmeriSuites brand.
"A primary objective of the Global Hyatt process is to better utilize the power of the Hyatt brand, infrastructure, distribution network and talents of our people more intensively to increase earnings growth without compromising the value of our brand," said Thomas Pritzker, chairman and c.e.o. of Hyatt Corp., in a news release.
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