HYATT HOTEL CORP. plans to acquire Dream Hotel Group’s lifestyle hotel brands, including the Dream Hotels, The Chatwal Hotels and Unscripted Hotels brands, for approximately $300 million. The deal will add more than 1,700 rooms to Hyatt’s lifestyle portfolio and increase Hyatt’s room count in New York City by more than 30 percent.
The acquisition includes a portfolio of 12 managed or franchised lifestyle hotels, with another 24 signed long-term management agreements for hotels expected to open in the future, Hyatt said in a statement on Nov. 29. The transaction, expected to close in the coming months, continues Hyatt’s asset-light growth strategy following acquisitions of Two Roads Hospitality in 2018 and Apple Leisure Group in 2021.
Post-acquisition, Hyatt will pay a base purchase price of $125 million, with up to an additional $175 million over the next six years. It would generate management fees of about $12 million a year on the first dozen hotels.
Stabilized management fees are anticipated to be around $12 million and an additional $27 million is expected if the contingent purchase price of $175 million is paid, the statement further said.
“We have tremendous respect for what Dream Hotel Group founder Sant Singh Chatwal and Chief Executive Officer Jay Stein and their team have created and are grateful for the trust being placed in us by Dream Hotel Group to care for their brands and carry their success forward into the future,” said Mark Hoplamazian, Hyatt’s president and CEO. “We look forward to continuing our growth journey with more than 600 new Hyatt family members who will further elevate our lifestyle expertise and expand the success of our dedicated lifestyle division. We are excited to offer even more inspiring experiences and celebratory programming to our guests and loyalty members and bring the value of the Hyatt network to a growing number of discerning hotel owners and developers around the world.”
The acquisition will extend Hyatt’s brand footprint in key markets, including Nashville, Hollywood, South Beach, Durham, several locations in New York City and one in the Catskills. Signed contracts represent additional strategic destinations including Las Vegas, Saint Lucia and Doha.
“Hyatt has a proven track record of preserving what makes lifestyle hotels special and is the ideal new home for our growing Dream Hotel Group brands,” Chatwal said. “As an owner of Dream Hotel Group properties, I look forward to the next part of our journey and am confident there is a bright future ahead for our hotels, owners, guests and team members as part of the Hyatt family.”
Chatwal will continue to own four open and two future hotels. Dream Hotel CEO Jay Stein will join Hyatt as head of Dream Hotels. Besides, chief development officer David Kuperberg will join Hyatt as head of development, Dream Hotels, chief operating officer Michael Lindenbaum will join Hyatt as global head of operations, Dream Hotels.
Moelis & Company LLC will be the financial advisor to Hyatt for the deal and Latham & Watkins LLP will be the legal advisor.
In November last year, the Chatwal New York, a luxury hotel in Manhattan owned by the Dream Hotel Group, has reopened after temporarily closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
