Choice Tells Wyndham to Reconsider
Skift Take
- Choice Hotels has urged Wyndham Hotels to consider a merger, but Wyndham has firmly declined any interest in the proposal. The chairman of Wyndham revealed they almost acquired Choice Hotels 20 years ago.
- The U.S. construction pipeline shows growth, with over 5,700 projects and 672,000 rooms, driven by a strong upper midscale chain scale presence. Renovation and conversion projects are on the rise, and new hotel openings are expected to increase in the coming years.
- Several hotel and resort projects are underway, including Westin Washington, DC Downtown, Opry Entertainment Group's renovation in Austin, Four Seasons expanding its Private Retreats collection, and Tommy Bahama's debut resort in California. Additionally, new developments in Florida, Rhode Island, and Indiana are on the horizon.
The DJIA was down 252 points, Nasdaq was down 226, the S&P 500 was down 50 points and the 10-year treasury yield was down .11 to 4.85%. Lodging stocks were lower. AHT and VAC traded down to new lows.
Choice Hotels, after the close yesterday, issued a press release asking (demanding?) Wyndham Hotels to come back to the table and engage them in discussions regarding a transaction. They gave their reasons why WH should jump at the chance for a merger. WH then issued their 3Q results, reporting in-line with another $105 million worth of stock repurchased. In the press release WH reiterated they said no to CHH and are not interested in a merger with them. Ahead of their conference call this morning, WH issued a release reiterating their reasons they said no to CHH. Then on the call WH’s chairman dropped the bombshell that they came close to buying CHH 20 years ago or so. CHH wanted an all-cash offer, WH was going to go through
