Why Highgate bought Viceroy
Highgate’s Deal For Viceroy Hotels A Sign Of The Times
Highgate Hotels, which has more than 500 owned or managed properties globally, but not a true brand, has one now.
Highgate Hotels, which has more than 500 owned or managed properties globally, but not a true brand, has one now.
The New York-based company announced it has acquired the lifestyle-to-luxury Viceroy Hotels & Resorts for an unspecified sum with the transaction expected to close early next year.
The deal is part of a growing trend of larger companies in the hospitality space bolting on smaller ones that, in many instances, have peaked or can’t accelerate further without the backing of a more deep-pocketed player.
For the buyer, it means building up scale in an environment that makes it necessary to survive.
Viceroy’s 10 current hotels, with two more reportedly on the way in Portugal and Panama, will likely be folded into Highgate’s Lifestyle & Luxury division, joining such other hotels as The Knickerbocker and Park Lane in New York. (Viceroy had a hotel in New York up until 2019 when it was reflagged as Le Méridien New York, Central Park, under Marriott.)
For Highgate, the deal may be more about the management contracts than the brand, with some key assets, including Viceroy Los Cabos, Viceroy Chicago and Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort, in St. Lucia.