Hyatt will buy major all-inclusive resort operator Playa Hotels & Resorts for $2.6 billion
The budget for acquisitions at Hyatt appears to have no limit.
In late 2024, we published the news that the Chicago-based hotel giant was in talks with Playa Hotels & Resorts for "potential strategic alternatives," which could include an acquisition. This morning, Hyatt announced that it is officially acquiring all outstanding shares of Playa Hotels for about $2.6 billion, expecting that the buyout will close in late 2025.
Playa is a major operator of all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico and has been subject to hotel industry chatter in recent years regarding its takeover potential as major brands like Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and IHG Hotels & Resorts all move more into the all-inclusive resort sector.
"Hyatt has firmly established itself as a leader in the all-inclusive space, a journey that began in 2013 through an investment in Playa Hotels & Resorts that launched the Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara brands," said Mark Hoplamazian, Hyatt's president and chief executive officer, in a statement on Monday morning. "We have respected and benefitted from Playa's operating expertise and outstanding guest experience delivery for years through their ownership and management of eight of our Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara hotels. This pending transaction allows us to broaden our portfolio while providing more value to all of our stakeholders through an expanded management platform for all-inclusive resorts."
Hyatt already owns a nearly 10% stake in Playa and has properties within the Playa portfolio, such as the Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall and Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall in Jamaica and Zilara and Ziva properties in the Dominican Republic and Mexico. The planned takeover of the broader Playa brand comes after a flurry of buying activity from Hyatt in recent years.
The company made its all-inclusive resort splash with a $2.7 billion Apple Leisure Group takeover, which added brands like Secrets and Dreams to the Hyatt portfolio. In the last several years, Hyatt has also purchased lifestyle brands like The Standard and its sibling brands, Me and All, Dream Hotel Group and the luxury and lifestyle booking platform Mr & Mrs Smith.
The play for Playa cements Hyatt's status as a leading all-inclusive resort operator from the legacy hotel brands. It also comes only months after Hyatt announced a new partnership with Grupo Pinero, owner of the Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts and Cayo Levantado Resort brands, that increased Hyatt's all-inclusive resort portfolio by 30%.
It's certainly now abundantly clear that the World of Hyatt is rapidly expanding to cater more to all-inclusive resort clientele.
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