Waterford, Maverick merge management

NATIONAL REPORT – Management company merger mania continues in various permutations with news breaking that Waterford Hotel Group and Maverick Hotels & Restaurants have created a strategic partnership to accelerate growth, enhance operational efficiencies, and create a more formidable portfolio with 57 properties.

Details of the terms are not being shared with each entity at least initially operating independently like sister companies and actively pursuing opportunistic growth in high-demand markets. They will blend together, according to Waterford Chairman and CEO Len Wolman, “as we see where we can take advantage of the strengths in each of the organizations.”

There’s nothing broken in either organization. It’s about how we take the best out of both and create opportunities for our associates and make sure we really deliver on exceptional service and performance for our owners.

Len Wolman

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Wolman told Hotel Investment Today there are no plans to rebrand the newly partnered businesses right now. “We think that both companies have really great reputation,” he said. “They have good brand equity in their names, and we’re going to figure out exactly how to take advantage of that over the next year or so as we get smart about all our systems, procedures, and really take full advantage of the organizations and the people that we have together... There’s nothing broken in either organization. It’s about how we take the best out of both and create opportunities for our associates and make sure we really deliver on exceptional service and performance for our owners.”

Wolman and Maverick Founder and CEO Robert Habeeb said growth will remain opportunistic with both teams starting to work together to figure out how they strategically take advantage of their geographic reach and existing relationships.

Waterford, Connecticut-based Waterford Hotels already has a well-established presence in the Eastern U.S. and a growing footprint in the South Central and Midwest regions. It has had an especially big 2025, adding 16 hotels outside of the new Maverick deal.

Maverick has 17 properties that span New England to the Midwest, with full-service, convention center and boutique hotels and a significant concentration in Chicago. Another handful of properties are under development.

Waterford has added 16 other management deals this year, including the Sheraton in Flowood, Misssissippi. (Credit: Waterford Hotel Group)

“We now have a footprint that really is a big swath of the map. So, it opens up a lot of new markets for us,” said Habeeb, who did say that Wolman is becoming a partner in Maverick.

While he didn’t rule out another portfolio acquisition, Wolman said it has to be just right. “This was one where the dynamics, the chemistry, the organizations, the geographic footprint, the assets under management really fit well together,” he added. “That’s why it came together, including, the people, which are the most important element in any transaction or organization.”

The more that I conversed with Len, the more that I realized that he is an absolute wonderful guy and that his company's values are the kind of values that we want to emulate.

Robert Habeeb

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Any assets owned separately, in partnerships or as individuals will remain separate from the management company, according to Wolman. Any sliver equity interests taken to grow the business would be separate investments through existing entities.

Wolman said that he felt the timing was right for this deal a long time in the making. “We’ve always felt we wanted to do it conservatively and with the right kind of platform from a financial standpoint, not to put any pressure on the organization and have it grow in the right way with strong financial demographics and dynamics.”

Habeeb explained, “The more that I conversed with Len, the more that I realized that he is an absolute wonderful guy and that his company's values are the kind of values that we want to emulate. And that was, for me, the biggest selling point. We gain all those financial things – strength in numbers, a bigger platform. It allows us to expand more rapidly. He has a very mature home office team, whereas we're a relatively young company. So, those two things seem to marry together well.”