Goldman prices $1.4B loan to support Hyatt asset sales: report

NEW YORK CITY — Goldman Sachs has priced a $1.4 billion leveraged loan to support Hyatt’s sale of the 15 all-inclusive resorts it originally acquired from Playa Hotels & Resorts, according to a story in Bloomberg.

According to the story, the offering was priced tighter than initially discussed (3.25% over the benchmark rate and at a discounted rate of 99.5 cents on the dollar). The story said leveraged finance investors have been eager to fund the few mergers and acquisitions that have been hitting the market this year.

On June 17, Hyatt completed its $2.6 billion acquisition of Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V., which was initially announced last year. On June 30, Hyatt announced it was selling the 15 assets to Tortuga Resorts, a joint venture between an affiliate of KSL Capital Partners and a Mexican family office called Rodina, for $2 billion. Hyatt said it could achieve up to an additional $143 million in earnout if certain operating thresholds are met. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2025, subject to regulatory approval in Mexico and other customary closing conditions. Hyatt said it would also retain $200 million of preferred equity in connection with the real estate transaction.

When the sale to Tortuga was announced, Hyatt said that once the real estate sale is finalized, the company is required to use the proceeds to repay the delayed draw-term loan used to fund a portion of the Playa acquisition.

The acquisition dramatically expanded Hyatt’s 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 flag. One resort, the 238-key Wyndham Alltra Playa del Carmen in Mexico, has remained under Wyndham’s flag. Hyatt said the two remaining properties are still under separate contractual arrangements.