"We have long believed that the brand strength of SummerfieldSuites could be realized to its full potential through a jointventure partnership," Fred J. Kleisner, Wyndham's chairman,president and CEO, says in this morning's press release, "andexpect this joint venture with Lehman will enable the brand to growexponentially 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 upan independent, Dallas-based company focused exclusively on theSummerfield Suites by Wyndham flag--management, franchise sales anddevelopment. Lehman's role is to find financing opportunities fordevelopment.

According to the release, the New York City-headquarteredLehman's partnered with the Gencom Group, a private, Miami-basedhospitality investment firm, for the acquisition, including thepartnership stake. The new company's portfolio starts out with ahalf dozen of hotels with 890 suites in Denver, Miami, Seattle,Waltham, MA, and Morristown and Whippany, NJ.