Joie De Vivre Hospitality and Thompson Hotels Merge
Thompson Hotels, an international collection of 12 luxury lifestyle hotels, and Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the most influential boutique brand in the West, announced they have merged. It is the first step in the creation of a multi-brand lifestyle hotel group with a global footprint. The new group, provisionally called JT Hospitality, will be formally renamed early next year in concert with the completion of a comprehensive joint branding exercise that is currently underway.
"Fifteen months ago we said we would leverage our hospitality platform to nearly double Joie de Vivre's annual revenues and the number of hotels in the collection within five years"
Thompson Hotels and Joie de Vivre Hospitality are equal partners in the merger, which took effect Oct. 1, 2011, and encompasses hotel-management operations and brands but not real estate assets. With the consolidation, the new hotel group manages 45 properties under the distinctive Thompson and Joie de Vivre brands with combined annual hotel revenues of approximately $500 million. The company will be based in New York City and Thompson Hotels CEO and Co-owner Stephen Brandman has been named CEO. Hospitality veteran John Pritzker, whose private equity firm Geolo Capital acquired a majority stake in Joie de Vivre in June of last year, will serve as co-chairman alongside Jason Pomeranc, the creative vision behind Thompson Hotels and one of its co-owners.
JT Hospitality plans to further expand the two brands domestically and internationally through management contracts, acquisitions and joint ventures. The company, which manages Carmel Valley Ranch and Ventana Inn & Spa, will also add additional luxury resorts and introduce a resort brand. With the merger, the Thompson brand gains access to Geolo Capital's earlier commitment of a $150 million fund dedicated to hotel acquisitions and co-investments. As a result of the fund, Joie de Vivre has made significant headway on its expansion, acquiring two hotels and a development site in Manhattan, as well as signing up several new management contracts, including hotels in Scottsdale and Chicago, which represent the company's first forays outside of California.
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