Great Wolf Resorts announced Thursday it received an unsolicited letter from KSL Capital Partners proposing to acquire Great Wolf for $6.25 per share in cash, subject to certain conditions, including due diligence and certain conditions related to debt waivers. The company previously entered into a definitive merger agreement with an affiliate of Apollo Global Management providing for Apollo to acquire Great Wolf for $5 per share in cash.
Great Wolf’s Board of Directors will consider the proposal and will pursue the course of action that is in the best interests of Great Wolf and its stockholders, according to a news release.
FelCor Lodging Trust announced Thursday it has agreed to sell six non-strategic hotels for $103 million to an undisclosed buyer. The purchaser paid a $3.9-million deposit toward the purchase price. The transaction is expected to close late in the second quarter.
The portfolio, which consists of 1,527 rooms, includes:
• Holiday Inn San Antonio-Airport Texas
• Sheraton Suites Ft. Lauderdale-Cypress Creek in Florida
• Doubletree Guest Suites hotels in Raleigh/Durham in North Carolina and Tampa-Rocky Point in Florida
• Embassy Suites hotels in Boca Raton, Florida and St. Paul, Minnesota.
When the transaction closes in the second quarter, FelCor will have sold 15 of the 25 hotels that it has brought to market since December 2010.
As part of its long-term portfolio repositioning strategy, which includes the sale of 39 non-strategic hotels, FelCor is marketing 16 hotels, including the six hotels announced Thursday.
After repayment of $73 million of secured debt and other costs at closing, FelCor expects to use the remaining $30 million of proceeds to pay a portion of its accrued preferred dividends in conjunction with paying the regular quarterly preferred dividends on 31 July 2012.
InterContinental Hotels Group on Thursday announced the appointment of former McDonald’s chief marketing officer, Larry Light, as global chief brands officer.
Reporting directly to CEO Richard Solomons, Light will oversee the strategy of developing IHG’s brands, which include Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.
“I am delighted to welcome Larry to our senior leadership team and look forward to working with him. One of our strategic priorities is to develop our brands and Larry’s wealth of experience and brand expertise will help us build a stronger platform for future growth,” Solomons said in a news release.
Four years ago, Wyndham Hotel Group had approximately 50 hotels in Asia. Today, that number’s approaching 500.
Asia remains Wyndham’s most active hotbed of development, Eric Danziger, the group’s president and CEO, said during a break Tuesday from the brand’s global brand conference in Las Vegas. Within that, China and India are seeing the most growth.
Expansion in these regions is primarily ground-up development, Danziger said. While Wyndham is traditionally a conversion company, there’s simply not enough product in Asia to meet demand.
Danziger declined to give specific pipeline numbers by region. However, he did say 40% of the company’s pipeline is outside the United States. Wyndham has more than 7,000 hotels comprising more than 611,000 rooms globally.
Read “Wyndham’s focus shifts outside US.”
Virgin Hotels is expected to begin construction in May on its plan to convert the Old Dearborn Bank Building in Chicago into a 250-room hotel, according to BidClerk.com, reports ChicagoRealEstateDaily.com.
The 136,000-square-foot project is expected to include construction of pools and saunas in addition to basic renovation. Virgin is redeveloping the 27-story property with Chicago-based John Buck Company.
The Chicago hotel is part of New York-based Virgin Hotels to roll out 25 hotels nationwide.
Compiled by Stephanie Wharton.
