"We have long believed that the brand strength of Summerfield Suites could be realized to its full potential through a joint venture partnership," Fred J. Kleisner, Wyndham's chairman, president and CEO, says in this morning's press release, "and expect this joint venture with Lehman will enable the brand to grow exponentially in the next decade." Summerfield, he adds, consistently leads the extended-stay segment.
Wyndham execs were unavailable for comment due to the holiday, but the official word is the JV is a 50-50% split. The deal sets up an independent, Dallas-based company focused exclusively on the Summerfield Suites by Wyndham flag--management, franchise sales and development. Lehman's role is to find financing opportunities for development.
According to the release, the New York City-headquartered Lehman's partnered with the Gencom Group, a private, Miami-based hospitality investment firm, for the acquisition, including the partnership stake. The new company's portfolio starts out with a half dozen of hotels with 890 suites in Denver, Miami, Seattle, Waltham, MA, and Morristown and Whippany, NJ.
"The Lehman's deal just gives us the financial muscle to develop," Andrew Jordan, Wyndham's executive vice president of sales and marketing and chief marketing offices, tells GlobeSt.com. He adds the initiative is separate from the hotelier's brand expansion plan of the Wyndham flag, which is being led by Nicholas R. Bonrepos.
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