Wyndham Worldwide will spin off its hotel business from its
timeshare business to create two publicly traded companies.
The transaction is expected to close during the first half
of 2018. Wyndham Hotel Group CEO Geoff Ballotti will continue on as president
and CEO of the hotel company, the official name of which has not been decided.
In a media statement announcing the spin-off, Ballotti said
the hotel group has spent the past three years improving the quality and
awareness of its brands, moving legacy hotel systems to cloud-based technology
and building out its Wyndham Rewards loyalty program. "We are excited
about moving forward as one of the largest pure-play hotel portfolios anchored
by iconic hotel brands in the economy and midscale segments."
Post-spinoff, the two companies intend to
continue in their affiliation with Wyndham Rewards via long-term exclusive
license agreements. Wyndham Hotel Group has 18 brands and more than 8,100
hotels across more than 80 countries.