Skift Take
Major real estate and investment groups like Blackstone and MCR Hotels will garner the most headlines around hotel acquisitions coming out of the pandemic. There's simply not enough brands out there for a company like Marriott to make a splash on the M&A front.
Early Check-In
Editor’s Note: Skift Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill brings readers exclusive reporting and insights into hotel deals and development, and how those trends are making an impact across the travel industry.
There’s plenty of deal making happening in the hotel industry, but the major brands aren’t generating the activity.
Blackstone announced late last week plans to acquire Condor Hospitality Trust’s entire real estate portfolio for $305 million, or roughly $160,000 per room. The deal — which encompasses 15 limited-service hotels across brands like Residence Inn and Home2 Suites is the latest in an increase in acquisitions in the real estate investment trust, or REIT, sector.
Mergers and acquisitions from the hospitality REIT sector are on track to have a record year, per a report this summer from brokerage firm JLL. Hospitality REIT M&A totaled $70 billion in June and was up 17 percent from last year.
While 2020 essentially brought transaction volume to a screeching halt during the early months of the pandemic, hotel analysts say that’s largely in the rear-view mirror now.
“The bigger driver for transactions are fundamentals and fundamental clarity,” said Michael Bellisario, an equity research senior analyst at Baird. “Now people have gotten through the worst, so there should be more transactions later this year and heading into next because we’re in a better space.”
Blackstone also closed on a joint $6 billion takeover of the Extended Stay America hotel chain, including its real estate assets, with Starwood Capital earlier this year. There have also been a wave of smaller property transactions in recent months from lodging trusts like Host Hotels