Former Innkeepers USA Trust CEO and President Jeffrey H. Fisher today announced the formation of two companies to develop, acquire and operate hotels in the United States. Innkeepers recently was acquired by affiliates of Apollo Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:AINV) .
"I couldn't imagine spending the next 50 years on the golf course," Fisher noted. "As I was sorting through what to do following the board's acceptance of the offer from Apollo, I concluded that I should continue to do what I know best, which is to build, buy and operate hotels. This was simply the next logical step. The platform we've built over the past 20 years remains in place, and I plan to utilize the same fantastic team to build a great new hotel legacy."
The two companies are:
Fisher Property Group, Inc., is a property ownership group that will develop and acquire hotels. "We have aligned with a number of institutional investors and have significant capital available to develop and acquire hotels," Fisher noted. "Our focus will be on extended-stay, particularly the Residence Inn and Homewood Suites brands, and we are looking at the new offerings by Hyatt and Starwood. We like the new Embassy Suites prototype, and also expect our portfolio to include premium-branded, limited-service properties. At this phase of the cycle, we will most likely lean more toward development, but will aggressively seek acquisition opportunities, particularly those that have deep turn-around and significant upside potential, including first-class, full-service properties."
Island Hospitality Management, Inc. is a third-party, independent management company. It will operate the 79 hotels previously managed by Innkeepers Hospitality and all hotels acquired or developed by Fisher Property Group.
"With the same team in place from the former Innkeepers Hospitality, we fully anticipate that the transfer will be transparent to our owners," Fisher pointed out. "We have the distribution, scale and expertise to operate anywhere in the country, and will aggressively seek out third-party opportunities. We have a proven track record of generating well-above-industry average results in all phases of the cycle."
Both companies are owned by Fisher and will be located in Palm Beach.
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