Random thoughts on Hyatt acquisitions
 

I was thinking today about Hyatt acquiring or merging with other hotel chains, and i started thinking about Radisson. At first I didn't really think it would make much sense, but then I started thinking that it would basically give Hyatt a bunch of presence in entire swaths of the world that they have none, and most of the Radisson Blu properties could be turned into regency's or even the odd andaz or maybe even one or two Grands. Now I haven't analyzed cost or market cap or size etc etc. Just a random thought off the top of my head. Not getting Starwood it was a real shame, as I think the two would have merged beautifully.

Radisson is owned by the Chinese. Even if it were put up for sale, the amount of management time needed to fix that mess would be enormous, only get a bunch of dumpy Radissons and low market Country and Park Inns.

Better to grow organically...

Do you mean for Accor to acquire Hyatt or the other way around? :confused: Accor is several times bigger than Hyatt.

Too slow for what? Personally I'll take as many Park Hyatt and Andaz as they can manage. You're never going to just buy more of those by reflagging something else.

Country Inn? Ibis? Novotel? No thanks...

At the moment it looks more like Hyatt will eventually be swallowed by another chain considering their global footprint. I wouldn't bet on it that Hyatt will ever take another company over at this point. Especially when you consider what's left on the market.

I think you are looking at this from the wrong perspective. Sure Radisson has some issues but IF Hyatt were to acquire them it could have some real benefits. Hyatt would gain properties in Europe, the Middle East and Asia where it's footprint is weak. In addition, Hyatt would rapidly grow it's mid-market hotel segment (where they are active with Hyatt Place and to some extent Hyatt House) by adding all the Country Inns and Suites. This would help them compete in many markets where there simply are no Hyatt options but Marriott and Hilton get most of the business. CI&S actually has some decent properties and the new ones being opened or renovated are actual on par with what I am seeing at Hyatt Place. The problem child would be what to do with the Radisson brand in the US that are not up to par...I would think keep them under the Radisson banner until they can be updated or keep the banner long-term as a segment below Hyatt and above CI&S. (sort of what Hilton does with Doubletree and IHG does with Crowne Plaza)

So in summary, I think there are many reasons this could be a decent tie up. My bet would be on a reverse acquisition of Radisson buying Hyatt due to the Chinese money however. Radisson has said they intent to grow and this might be what they are thinking.

Hyatt would already own Starwood IF:

1. The Pritzker family had been willing to give up control - they weren't
2. They could raise the required money as debt - they couldn't

Since neither of those things appears likely - and the family doesn't plan to sell out - then this is all fun speculation that really isn't going anywhere. It would have to be small bolt-on acquisitions of the type IHG just announced today that they are looking for.

Hyatt is far more likely to be acquired than be the acquirer.....

I concur.^ Hyatt failed to acquire Starwood which is about twice its size let alone Accor which is about five times its size.

I am surprised Loews and Omni haven't been bought and they would fall in the small category of good chains...not luxury. Even though not luxury both of these make sense for IHG IMHO since their higher-end coverage is lacking in the US with their IC brand. For Hyatt both chains seem to compete with them in the US markets where they have hotels so not sure it would be a good fit.

Hyatt has said they want to focus on upscale travelers so not sure Radisson would be a good fit. My dream is for Hyatt to acquire Aman Resorts and keep the Aman brand. From every perspective - geography, size, clientele, etc. - I think it's the perfect fit.

Yeah the only reason I thought about Radisson was because many of the Radisson Blu properties would be fine as Regencys and it would give Hyatt some mid to upper mid level presence in places like Iceland, Norway, Finland, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Scotland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, etc etc etc. Most of the Radisson Blu properties are plenty nice, and would be perfectly reasonable Regencys or even as I said, some would be fine as Andaz/Centric or even a few Grands. Many of the Country Inn type properties would be fine as HH/HP as well. For me the only main negative to Radisson is that it has very few high end properties, so the number of Grand type properties would be small as mentioned, and Parks...well, I do believe there are actually a couple as well.

IHG would be fine, but for me, the issue is that frankly, IHG has very little of even mid level value. I do not care about 5000 HIs, and there are only about 200 IC properties. Frankly, the CPs would just serve as HP/HH to me in most cases anyway, so IHG is mainly 95% HH/HP and 5% Regency/Grand type. I actually think Radisson offers more value for the brand and its expansion.

Omni would be fine for US expansion, but honestly, Hyatt's problem is not generally a lack of US properties. They need more international presence, and Omni does not provide that. The same goes for Loews.

Obviously, with the Chinese ownership that bought Radisson, I do not expect them to sell it. Clearly they are continuing to buy up others...I mean, they bought 25% of Hilton I believe a few months after buying Radisson. Of course, they have also been rapidly selling and divesting themselves of several things, including part of that Hilton stake I believe, so who knows. On a side note...man, I guess you can just buy up anything with no limits if you are a Chinese conglomerate these days.

My dream is to win the Mega Millions jackpot too but I don't think that is going to happen just like I wouldn't think this would happen.