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Wyndham acquires Latin leader, Fën Hotels

The Dazzler Asuncion, Paraguay
The Dazzler Asuncion, Paraguay

Wyndham Hotel Group on Thursday announced its acquisition of Latin America’s Fën Hotels, adding 26 management contracts across the region and the United States. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Fën has hotels in Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia and the U.S., including two new Fën-built Wyndham Grand hotels opening in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Asunción, Paraguay. With the addition of Fën Hotels’ Esplendor Boutique Hotels and Dazzler Hotels, Wyndham’s portfolio grows to 18 brands.

Fën Hotels’ 100-plus executives and management staff in Buenos Aires will continue leading Fën hotels and augment Wyndham Hotel Group’s Latin America team as Fën’s current headquarters becomes Wyndham Hotel Group’s new Latin America HQ for management operations. Current Fën CEO Patricio Fuks will remain as chairman of Fën.

Together with Wyndham’s existing hotels in the region, the combined portfolio stands at 188 hotels in 19 countries.

Additionally, Fën Hotels’ partner, Emprenurban, led by CEO Ivan Kozicki, will become a Wyndham strategic partner across Latin America, launching the first two Wyndham Grand Hotels in Latin America later this year and next. “Coupling our proven development model and capabilities across Latin America with Wyndham’s global brands and resources will ensure an accelerated and robust joint growth pipeline for Fën and Wyndham,” Kozicki added.

“Wyndham Hotel Group’s strength and significant scale as the company with more hotels globally than any other hotel company dramatically increases our distribution, immediately enabling us to grow faster not only in Argentina, but also throughout the region,” Fuks said.

In November 2015, HOTELS reported about a US$300 million investment in Fën from George Soros’ Quantum Strategic Partners, which Fuks said gave the company the means to finance up to 5,000 new hotel rooms in South America within the next three years. At the time, Fuks said the Quantum deal would allow Fën to accelerate its growth and scale rapidly throughout the region, adding that the downside of Latin America is the lack of credit from local investors and bankers, and the absence of long-period investment projects.

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