Hyatt Stockholders IPO Launches This Week

Hyatt Hotels Corp. is not listing any of its class A common stock, except for what the underwriters can purchase if they exercise the option. Rather it is a number of the company's current stockholders who are selling shares. In total 38 million stockholder shares will be sold between Thomas Pritkzer, Marshall Eisenberg and Karl Breyer, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

After the offering, more than 38 million common class A shares will remain as well as 130 million common class B shares. Both class A and B shareholders will vote together as one unit on deals. Those holding class A stock will have one vote per share while class B stockholders will have 10 votes per share. This structure allows the Pritker family to retain control of the company.

"Following this offering, Pritzker family business interests will beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately 80.7% of our Class B common stock, representing approximately 62.4% of the outstanding shares of our common stock and approximately 78.4% of the total voting power of our outstanding common stock, or approximately 60.4% of the outstanding shares of our common stock and approximately 78.1% of the total voting power of our outstanding common stock if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares from us in full," the filing states.

According to the filing, As of September 30, Hyatt's portfolio contained 415 Hyatt-branded properties, for a total of 119,857 rooms and units. The company employs more than 80,000 people in 45 countries.

The company, which started in 1957, has seen revenues decline this year. According to the SEC filing, "For the year ended December 31, 2008, revenues totaled $3.8 billion, net income attributable to Hyatt Hotels Corp. totaled $168 million and adjusted EBITDA totaled $687 million. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, revenues totaled $2.4 billion, net loss attributable to Hyatt Hotels Corp. totaled $31 million and adjusted EBITDA totaled $302 million."

Hyatt officials declined to comment to GlobeSt.com about the pending IPO, citing registration with the SEC as the reason for silence.

The IPO is expected to be the fourth largest to take place this year in the US. But whether it will raise the desired amount of capital remains to be seen. The hotel company has taken a severe hit this past year, and five of the last nine IPOs ended up pricing below the expected per share price, according to reports.

"We're running into renewed volatility in the market that we haven't seen in some time, and one essential requirement for a robust IPO market is stability in valuation," says Jim Rossman, head of U.S. equity capital markets at Macquarie Capital, in a Wall Street Journal article about the IPO. "The performance of the market in the last few weeks has impacted IPOs. Buyers are more likely to sit on the sidelines when they see comparable valuations coming down."

Goldman, Sachs & Co., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and JP Morgan Securities Inc. are underwriting the offering. The underwriters have the option to purchase 5.7 million shares of common Hyatt Hotels Corp. stock. Should they utilize this option, giving the company its only direct proceeds from the IPO, Hyatt plans to use the funds working capital and general purposes.