Hyatt officials say the money will be used to provide liquidity to the Pritzker family, owners of the company. The money also will allow the add of two new board members to the Hyatt board of directors, including Greg Penner, a general partner with Madrone, and Byron Trott, a vice chairman of investment banking with Goldman.
The company has more than 65 hotels in the full-service pipeline, including 16 in China. Also in the planning and construction stages are two casual Andaz brand hotels, one in New York City and one in London; as well as 40 Hyatt Summerfield hotels and 50 new Hyatt Place projects. The Hyatt Place brand is expected to reach 120 hotels nationwide by January.
"Consistent with previously announced plans, we are in the process of restructuring our family's holdings," said Tom Pritzker, chairman of the company, in a statement. "As part of our strategic planning we considered opening up our shareholder base to an investor or investors who shared our vision and could facilitate the implementation of the company's strategy. The addition of these sophisticated investors with long-term horizons will allow us to further our restructuring efforts without affecting Global Hyatt's financial capacity to grow and execute on our business plan." He said while he has previously spoken about making the company "public ready," there are no specific plans to access the public markets at this time.
The company has more than 735 hotels in 44 countries. A Hyatt spokesman did not return calls for comment. A Madrone spokesperson could not be reached.
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