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1. US Senator Weighs in on Choice's Pursuit of Wyndham
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote a letter to the Federal Trade Commission to express concerns about Choice Hotels International’s hostile takeover pursuit of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. Choice announced an exchange offer for all outstanding shares of Wyndham for $90 per share on Dec. 12.
“The takeover would create the largest branded hotel chain in the United States, giving one chain control over a huge portion of the hotel market,” Warren wrote. “Such a reduction in competition would harm entrepreneur franchisees and lead to higher hotel rates for customers across the country. Accordingly, I urge the Federal Trade Commission to closely scrutinize Choice’s hostile takeover of Wyndham and oppose this deal if it violates antitrust law.”
2. Ashford To Sell Boston Property for $171 Million
Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Trust agreed to sell the Hilton Boston Back Bay in a $171 million deal, CoStar News’ Candace Carlisle reports. The sale of the 390-room upscale hotel is expected to close next month.
Ashford President and CEO Rob Hays said the deal will bring $70 million of net proceeds to the REIT’s bottom line, which will put it in a favorable spot to pay off the $200 million loan it received from Oaktree Capital Management in 2021. The REIT has purchase agreements on five hotels and a letter of intent for another, but Hays said there’s a chance those deals don’t close as expected.
“Given how choppy the sales markets have been, we’ve had a few assets previously under [letter-of-intents] that have fallen through,” he said. “It does seem like the odds of getting deals across the finish line are increasing as financial markets are improving, from what we can see of several loans and refinancing deals in the market.”
3. Summit Sets Sights on Selling in 2024
Summit Hotel Properties plans to be a net seller at the beginning of 2024, President and CEO Jonathan Stanner said during the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 earnings call Thursday, HNN’s Sean McCracken reports.
The REIT has three hotels under contract to sell for a combined $84 million; it sold six properties for $46.6 million in all of 2023.
“This is consistent with what the strategy has been over the last 12 to 18 months, where we’ve been able to sell some lower [revenue per available room], lower-cap-rate type of hotels,” he said. “It’s still a relatively slow transactions environment, but a lot of what we’ve sold has had pretty significant [capital expenditure] needs going forward. I think in the near term, you can expect us to continue to use proceeds to pay down leverage and de-lever the balance sheet.”
4. Strikes Halt Public Transit in Germany
Public transit strikes halted bus, tram and underground train services for most of Germany today, Reuters reports. The strikes are due to disputes over working hours and were organized by the Verdi union.
“Verdi has said its current talks over public transport workers’ contracts have stalled as it pushes for reduced working hours and more leave,” the news outlet reports.
BVG, Berlin’s public transit operator, called the strike “unnecessary and completely exaggerated.”
5. Taylor Swift Tour Irks Countries Missing Out
Taylor Swift begins her run of concerts in Singapore on March 2, and while the country is anxiously awaiting the economic benefits, neighboring countries are frustrated they’ll be missing out, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said Singapore funded the tour as long as Swift agreed to not go to other countries in the region. Swift’s tour only hits two East Asian countries: Singapore and Japan.
“Every business from hotels, tourism industry, down to the barbecue pork stalls would definitely want that,” Thavisin said.