INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
Hyatt Hotels Corporation | September 28, 2021
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (“Hyatt” or the “Company”) (NYSE: H), a leading global hospitality company, announced today the pricing of its public offering of:
$700.0 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2023, which will bear interest at a fixed annual rate of 1.300%;
$300.0 million aggregate principal amount of floating rate senior notes due 2023, which will bear interest at a rate equal to Compounded SOFR (as defined in the prospectus supplement relating to the offering), reset quarterly, plus 105 basis points; and
$750.0 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2024, which will bear interest at a fixed annual rate of 1.800%.
The offering is expected to close on October 1, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. Hyatt will have the option to redeem all or any portion of the notes at 100% of their principal amount at any time on or after October 1, 2022.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to fund a portion of the purchase price for its pending acquisition of Apple Leisure Group (the “Apple Leisure Group Acquisition”), to refinance all of its $750.0 million principal amount of floating rate notes due 2022 and for general corporate purposes, which may include payment of any fees and expenses relating to the Apple Leisure Group Acquisition or any other general corporate purpose the Company may deem necessary or advisable, and to pay fees and expenses related to this offering.
Hyatt previously announced that it intends to fund more than 80% of the $2.7 billion purchase price for the Apple Leisure Group Acquisition with a combination of $1.0 billion of cash on hand and new debt financing, including a portion of the proceeds from this offering and a one-year term loan expected to be funded concurrently with the closing of the Apple Leisure Group Acquisition as part of the previously announced acquisition financing commitment, and the remainder with proceeds of its recently consummated equity offering. The offering is not contingent on the consummation of the Apple Leisure Group Acquisition, and the consummation of the Apple Leisure Group Acquisition is not contingent on the consummation of the offering.
J.P. Morgan is acting as representative of the underwriters, and J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank Securities, Scotiabank and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as joint lead book-running managers for the offering.
About Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company offering 20 premier brands. As of June 30, 2021, the Company's portfolio included more than 1,000 hotel and all-inclusive properties in 68 countries across six continents. The Company's purpose to care for people so they can be their best informs its business decisions and growth strategy and is intended to attract and retain top employees, build relationships with guests and create value for shareholders.
Read More
TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
RateGain, myhotelshop | September 23, 2021
RateGain Travel Technologies Limited, a provider of SaaS solutions for travel and hospitality, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of myhotelshop, a company incorporated in Germany, which provides a platform to help hotels improve direct guest acquisition. Together, myhotelshop and RateGain will now offer hotels the ability to reach more customers at higher returns.
The agreement is in line with RateGain's mission to become the leading revenue maximization platform for the hospitality and travel industry. As COVID-19 accelerated digitization of customer interactions, according to Phocuswright 9 out of 10 travelers engage with travel online. The research also shows that most travelers do not shop and book from the same source with a majority of online shoppers searching on OTAs and booking on hotel websites. In the midst of multiple channels including intermediaries, metasearch and OTAs hotels are struggling to create the optimum distribution strategy that helps them drive more bookings and lower acquisition costs.
This increases the need for hotels to move away from disparate systems and have a single provider that can help them get better control on guest acquisition and reduce dependency on one channel. myhotelshop offers reporting, bid management and campaign intelligence platform for metasearch publishers and other travel products that enables hotel suppliers, OTAs, and agency clients to reach more customers at higher returns.
Commenting on the agreement Bhanu Chopra, Founder, RateGain said, "We are delighted to welcome Ullrich and the myhotelshop team to the RateGain family. The merger will help in addressing a key challenge that the industry is facing in the post-COVID world that is witnessing increased digitization. The need to become digital first is increasingly becoming chaotic and we aim to make it simpler for hotels to manage their acquisition strategy and enable them to unlock new revenue."
Ullrich Kastner, CEO & Founder, myhotelshop added, "With RateGain we found a partner that helps us scale our technology and business model globally and at the same time keep our company brand and culture as it is. Our people, customers and partners rely on the fact that we stay who we are. Just as much it is important for them that we keep our growth path, to stay ahead in the meta and online marketing space for hotels. We aspire to be the leading marketing software for individual hotels and medium sized chains and the merger with RateGain will help us further enhance this vision within a strong technology framework."
About RateGain:
RateGain is a global provider of SaaS solutions for the hospitality and travel industry, offering travel and hospitality solutions that unlock new revenue every day. We are one of the largest aggregators of data points in the world for the hospitality and travel industry.
About myhotelshop
Established in January 2012, headquartered in Leipzig, Germany, myhotelshop provides solutions to increase direct sales of hotels and make it a profitable distribution channel by optimizing, managing and distributing hotel content and campaigns to demand partners and driving the online success of its hotel partners.
Read More
FEATURES AND ADVICE
Selina | September 20, 2021
Selina, the fast-growing hospitality and experiential brand targeting Millennial and Gen Z travelers, announces the grand opening of its newest location in Chicago's bustling Gold Coast neighborhood. Combining the comfort and style of a boutique hotel with the social experiences of a retreat or festival, Selina Chicago is curated for a new generation of globally fluid, economically conscious, and socially-minded travelers, locals, and remote workers.
"Opening in Chicago marks a major milestone for Selina as we continue to grow our brand globally," said Rafael Museri, CEO & Co-Founder Selina. "We are looking forward to sharing our experiential lifestyle and Latin roots with major US cities like Chicago, and our planned location in Washington D.C."
Centered around community, collaboration, diversity and culture, Selina Chicago marries the city's vibrant art scene with the brand's strong Latin roots. Outfitted with rich colors, gold accents, and a diverse collection of artwork, and upcycled furniture, Selina's newest location spans 16 floors in the heart of Chicago's iconic Magnificent Mile. Complete with 600 beds—a combination of community rooms, lofts, apartments, suites, and hybrid rooms—Selina also features a communal kitchen, library, cinema, wellness center, and full-service restaurant HOWM Cafe & Concept store. These public spaces are focused and fluid, designed to bring people together through social and collaborative moments. From a cafe that transitions into a performance center by night to a cinema that converts into a digital art gallery, Selina Chicago meets the needs of the community where they are, day or night.
HOWM is a new food & beverage concept Selina is bringing to the United States. HOWM will serve a range of healthy juices and smoothies and a delicious coffee program from Chicago-based company Intelligentsia. Through a partnership with Chicago-based Ritual Zero Proof, the first American-made non-alcoholic spirit with the flavor and burn of liquor, minus the alcohol or calories, a slate of dynamic, wellness-minded beverages will be curated for HOWM Chicago. These classic virgin drinks feature fresh fruits and syrups that are refreshing and one-of-a-kind. The HOWM Cafe Bar will be offering nonalcoholic beers and mocktails, brunch with D.J.'s, record and art fairs, and all-day breakfast. This will be Selina's second HOWM brand, which opened in Selina Chelsea in N.Y. this month.
The space will be a multifunctional bar, cafe, restaurant & concept store. The different spaces completely transform from day to night depending on the programming. From art exhibitions by local universities, fashion pop-ups, records fairs to open stage and comedy nights. The spaces can also have different programming happening simultaneously in the bar and main restaurant & retail space.
About Selina
Selina is one of the world's largest hospitality brands built to address the needs of Millennial and Gen Z travelers, blending beautifully-designed accommodation with coworking, recreation, wellness, and local experiences. Custom built for today's nomadic traveler, Selina provides guests with a global infrastructure to seamlessly travel and work abroad. Founded in 2015, each Selina property is designed in partnership with local artists, creators and tastemakers, breathing new life into existing buildings in interesting locations around the world – from urban cities to remote beaches and jungles.
Read More