Choice Hotels to Acquire WoodSpring Suites Brand and Franchise Business for $231M

by Kristin Harlow

WICHITA, KAN. — Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE: CHH) has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the brand and franchise business of WoodSpring Suites from WoodSpring Hotels Holdings LLC, a portfolio company of Lindsay Goldberg, for approximately $231 million. The acquisition will add nearly 240 extended-stay hotels in 35 states to the Choice Hotels portfolio, creating an extended-stay portfolio of more than 350 properties with existing brands MainStay Suites and Suburban Extended Stay.

Wichita, Kansas-based WoodSpring Hotels is an extended-stay hotel company, with nearly 240 properties in 35 states nationwide. Over the past few years, the company has executed a brand relaunch and repositioning, resulting in WoodSpring Suites unit growth of more than 25 percent and franchise fee revenue growth of 45 percent in the last three years, according to Choice Hotels. More than 25 Woodspring hotels are expected to open in 2018.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018. Moelis & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor to Choice Hotels on the transaction, while Willkie Farr & Gallagher is serving as legal advisor. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor to WoodSpring, while Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is serving as legal advisor.

Lindsay Goldberg is a private investment firm that partners with families, founders and long-term oriented management teams seeking to build their businesses.

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