Wyndham hotels acquires La Quinta franchise in $1.95B deal

La Quinta will spin off 315 real estate assets into REIT

La Quinta (Credit: Wikimedia Commons, La Quinta)
La Quinta (Credit: Wikimedia Commons, La Quinta)

From TRD LA: Wyndham Worldwide Corporation has agreed to pay $1.95 billion for La Quinta Holding’s hotel franchise and management business, further extending its already considerable portfolio of hotels and resorts.

The acquisition includes La Quinta’s 900 managed and franchised hotels, bringing Wyndham to more than 9,000 locations in 75 countries between 21 brands, according to a joint press release.

The deal does not include La Quinta’s real estate assets, which include 315 hotels around the country. La Quinta will spin off those assets into a publicly traded real estate investment trust called CorePoint Lodging Inc.

Wyndham already owns and operates familiar hotel brands including Days Inn, Howard Johnson’s, Super 8, and Ramada.

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The company will set aside $240 million to pay taxes incurred in the spinoff. La Quinta CEO Keith Cline has been appointed president and CEO of CorePoint Lodging, which will take effect when the deal completes.

Wyndham will also pay $715 million of La Quinta debt and La Quinta stockholders will receive $8.40 per share.

Blackstone owned La Quinta Holdings prior to 2014, when it took the Texas-based company public. Blackstone previously planned to sell La Quinta.

The acquisition is expected to wrap up in the second quarter.