Hyatt closes $2B sale of Playa assets

CHICAGO — As expected, Hyatt Hotels Corp. has completed its sale of the real estate portfolio it previously acquired from Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V. to Tortuga Resorts for $2 billion.

The closing, announced on December 30, includes 14 all-inclusive resort assets in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. The sale was initially announced in late June to the joint venture between an affiliate of Denver-based KSL Capital Partners and a Mexican family office called Rodin. Hyatt can earn up to an additional $143 million in earnouts if certain operating thresholds are met, and it has retained $200 million of preferred equity in Tortuga in connection with the transaction.

The real estate portfolio initially included 15 properties, but Hyatt previously disclosed during its third-quarter earnings that it sold one of those properties, Playa del Carmen in Mexico, to an undisclosed third-party buyer on September 18 for $22 million.

The closing of this transaction means Hyatt was able to achieve a fully asset-light transaction of its $2.6 billion acquisition of Playa Hotels & Resorts earlier this year. Proceeds from the sale will be used to repay the delayed draw term loan that funded a portion of the Playa acquisition. Hyatt expects pro forma net leverage to remain consistent with thresholds necessary to maintain its credit profile.

In addition, Hyatt and Tortuga have entered into 50-year management agreements for 13 of the 14 properties in the portfolio. The remaining property is subject to a separate contractual arrangement.

As a result of damage from Hurricane Melissa in October 2025, seven Hyatt properties in Jamaica (including four in this transaction, the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall, Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall, Dreams Rose Hall Resort & Spa and Jewel Grande Montego Bay Resort & Spa) are expected to remain closed until the fourth quarter of 2026.

Hyatt’s acquisition of Playa dramatically expanded its all-inclusive portfolio in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. On June 16, it was reported that six of the seven Playa-owned hotels that did not previously carry a Hyatt flag were rebranded to Hyatt or Apple Leisure Group (which Hyatt acquired in 2021) brands. Hilton lost four flags in the rebranding, and Wyndham lost one. One resort, the 238-key Wyndham Alltra Playa del Carmen in Mexico, has remained under Wyndham’s flag.

Analyst C. Patrick Scholes of Truist Securities told Hotel Investment Today in June that the real estate sales themselves don’t represent a massive upside; completing them by the end of 2025 removes several downside risks for Hyatt stock, especially as it continues to tout its growth as an asset-light company. 

“While we/investors assumed Hyatt had long been engaged in discussions for divesting the [Playa] assets, there was, of course, no certainty that Hyatt could sell the assets, particularly in a time of macro volatility,” he said at the time.

The completion of this transaction marks a defining moment, establishing Tortuga as a scaled, leading platform in luxury beachfront hospitality across Mexico and the Caribbean.

Leo Schlesinger

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Analyst Michael Bellisario told HIT in June that the primary motivation of this deal was for Hyatt to flip the below-market franchise agreement to a market value and allow the company to charge a higher per-room management agreement while also extending the contracts, especially for the Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara properties, which are roughly 70% to 75% of the revenues, fees and EBITDA for Playa.

“This closing is the culmination of a transformative transaction for Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection,” said Javier Águila, president, Inclusive Collection, Hyatt. “Throughout this process, we’ve seen strong cultural alignment grounded in care between Playa and Hyatt, which has been key to achieving this milestone.”

“The completion of this transaction marks a defining moment, establishing Tortuga as a scaled, leading platform in luxury beachfront hospitality across Mexico and the Caribbean,” said Leo Schlesinger, who was recently named CEO of Tortuga. “We are excited to deepen our partnership with Hyatt and to work closely with our brand partners, property teams and investors to unlock new opportunities for growth.”