Hotel real estate investment trust RLJ Lodging Trust is buying FelCor Lodging Trust, which would make it one of the biggest hotel REITs in the U.S.
The combined firms would own 160 hotels in 26 states and the District of Columbia including brands such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Wyndham, Reuters reported.
In New York City, RLJ owns the DoubleTree by Hilton at 599 Lexington Avenue, and the Courtyard by Marriott at 410 East 92nd Street. FelCor owns the Morgans New York at 237 Madison Avenue, the Royalton at 44 West 44th Street and the Knickerbocker at 1466 Broadway.
The new company would have a pro-forma market value of $4.2 billion and an enterprise value of $7 billion.
Late last year, RLJ sold its Hilton Garden Inn at 63 West 35th Street and its Hilton New York in the Fashion District for $286 million.
The announcement comes two months after Ashford Hospitality Trust made an offer to buy FelCor for roughly $1.27 billion in stock and kicked off a proxy battle for control of the company’s board. [Reuters] – Rich Bockmann