Concord Hospitality Enterprises, a hotel developer, owner and operator, has entered the initial stage of forming a USD300m discretionary private equity fund.
The fund, which will focus on acquiring distressed hotels and debt, is expected to close within the next 90 days.
Additionally, the company says it continues to aggressively expand its development and third-party management growth. Year-to-date, Concord has developed and opened nine properties and entered into one joint venture partnership. The company expects to open or sign management contracts for at least three additional properties by year end.
"In 2007, we sold a 19-hotel portfolio that gave our investor partners and us more than USD500m to expand and enhance our portfolio," says Mark G. Laport, president and chief executive of Concord Hospitality. "During the course of the last two years, we’ve leveraged that capital to develop 16 new hotels, of which 13 are open with the remainder scheduled to open later this year and in 2010.
"The fund will allow us to continue our plan to double the size of our portfolio within the next few years, despite the recession. We believe there will be attractive acquisition opportunities for both hotels and hotel debt, and we expect to be a significant player in those markets."
Concord recently signed management contracts for the independent 88-room Ocean Sands resort in Pompano Beach, Florida, the company’s first foray into the resort sector, and a Starwood property in Houston, which is the company’s first Starwood Hotels & Resorts flag. Concord has been an approved Starwood management company for two years. It is also approved to operate Marriott, Hilton, Choice, Hyatt and Intercontinental Hotels.
