Wyndham Back On Restructured Track

<B> Wyndham Back On Restructured Track</B>

By Maria P. Vallejo

<I>Dallas</I> - Efforts are underway to resolve Patriot American's financial woes through a restructuring plan and leadership change, which are expected to increase Wyndham's development projects.

Patriot American is in the process of shedding its status as a real estate investment trust, will receive a $1 billion equity investment from Apollo Real Estate Advisors by June, and rename itself Wyndham International. The plan will enable the new Wyndham to complete the projects it already has in the pipeline and begin new developments in the second half of this year, said Mack Koonce, executive vice president of marketing and strategic planning.

"This gives us the resources to continue to grow and the capital to spend on our existing properties," Koonce said. "We've been on an aggressive renovation mode on the assets Patriot had acquired."

Analysts and officials put to rest any concerns about Patriot's plans as Jim Carreker stepped up to the position of chairman and CEO of the consolidated company after Paul Nussbaum resigned.

"Paul Nussbaum was a deal executive. He was the person that could organize the growth of the company by acquisitions," said analyst Bjorn Hanson at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York. "Jim is going to focus more on operating and growing the business."

Renovations and development had been put on hold as Patriot officials considered a variety of options to stave off a possible takeover, but Koonce expects growth to resume shortly.

"It's been a big 18 months of expansion," he said, "and I'm not sure if people would notice a slight slow down. You'll see us do more deals, but it certainly will not grow at the same rate it did in the last 18 months.