Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire leading North American resort-management, travel and hospitality group Apple Leisure Group (ALG) for a cash amount of $2.7 billion.
The purchase from affiliates of capital market company KKR and private equity company KSL Capital Partners, LLC, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, subject to customary closing conditions.
ALG's resort brand management platform, AMResorts, supplies management services to the largest portfolio of luxury, all-inclusive resorts in the Americas under its AMR Collection label.
The AMR Collection portfolio includes such well-known resort brands as Secrets Resorts & Spa, Dreams Resorts & Spas, Breathless Resorts & Spas, and Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Sunscape Resorts & Spa Resorts, as well as the up-and-coming Alua Hotels & Resorts, and Now Resorts & Spas brands.
Unlimited Vacation Club, ALG's membership offering, and ALG Vacations, its tour operator arm, will also be included as part of Hyatt's acquisition, along with its destination management services and travel technology assets.
ALG's Unlimited Vacation Club is an exclusive travel society whose members enjoy preferred rates and other benefits at AMR Collection properties. With over 110,000 participants, its membership has expanded at a compounded annual growth rate of 18 percent over the past five years.
ALG currently operates in 10 countries and boasts a portfolio of over 33,000 hotel guest rooms, having grown its collection from just nine resorts in 2007 to roughly 100 properties by the end of 2021. It also has 24 executed deals in the pipeline for properties in Europe and the Americas, and a sizeable number of additional hotels currently under development.
This will enable Hyatt to expand its footprint in luxury leisure travel immediately and into the future, as Hyatt will actually offer the largest portfolio of luxury all-inclusive resorts in the world once the transaction has concluded.
Regionally speaking, it will also be the largest luxury hotel operator in Mexico and the Caribbean, and its footprint in Europe will have grown by 60 percent, with Hyatt entering 11 new European markets overnight.
Once the acquisition is completed, current ALG CEO Alejandro Reynal and the current ALG leadership team will continue to lead the company's business, with Reynal being brought onto Hyatt's executive leadership team, reporting to Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian.
"Combining Hyatt's deep expertise and global brand footprint with ALG's strong resort brands, operating capabilities and robust development plans will elevate our differentiated position and create a leader in luxury leisure travel," said Reynal in a news release. "On behalf of everyone at ALG, I am grateful to our partners at KKR and KSL who supported us in building the platform into what it is today. I am excited to have our team join the Hyatt family and I anticipate a robust growth journey ahead as the industry expands and we are able to provide a best-in-class leisure offering to an even larger group of travelers around the world."
"Today is a great milestone in what has been a story of growth, resilience, and dedication to world-class leisure experiences by an outstanding team at Apple Leisure Group," said Chris Harrington and Rich Weissman, partners at KKR and KSL Capital Partners, respectively. "There is simply no better home for ALG to continue on its growth trajectory than being part of Hyatt."
Hyatt will hold a conference call and webcast on Monday, August 16, 2021, at 7:30 a.m. CDT to discuss the transaction, to which interested parties may listen in via a simultaneous webcast, accessible through the company's investor relations website.
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