Wyndham Worldwide today announced that its Wyndham Hotel Group business unit has agreed to acquire the Tryp® hotel brand from Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts.

In addition, Wyndham will enter into a license agreement with the current 91 Tryp hotels located throughout Europe and South America that will continue to be owned, operated, managed or licensed by Sol Meliá. Wyndham Hotel Group and Sol Meliá will form a strategic alliance to work together to develop the Tryp brand globally and market the hotels cooperatively through their central reservations systems and loyalty programs.

The brand, expected to be renamed Tryp by Wyndham®, is a select-service, midmarket brand representing approximately 13,000 rooms and caters to business and leisure travelers in cosmopolitan cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Lisbon, Frankfurt, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Montevideo.

The acquisition price is approximately $43 million (USD), subject to adjustments. The all-cash transaction is anticipated to close by the end of the second quarter, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Sol Meliá will continue to operate hotels, resorts and vacation clubs under its seven other owned brands.

“This acquisition reflects our strategy to invest in our fee-for-service businesses and supplement organic growth with complementary brands,” said Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and chief executive officer of Wyndham Worldwide. “The addition of more than 90 high-performing hotels in key international cities enhances and accelerates the recent development momentum of the Wyndham Hotel Group. The transaction significantly increases our international platform, enhancing our growth opportunities, especially in Europe and Latin America.”

The Tryp by Wyndham brand would join Wyndham Hotel Group and its 11 other hotel brands, which encompass nearly 7,100 hotels and 593,300 rooms in 65 countries.

“We look forward to adding the Tryp brand to our strong global portfolio and continuing our working relationship with Sol Meliá, a world-renowned company,” said Wyndham Hotel Group president and chief executive officer, Eric Danziger. “Sol Meliá’s leaders built a family enterprise into a successful and innovative global hotel company, providing an outstanding collection of products and services for more than 50 years. We intend to continue expanding the Tryp brand by utilizing our global development team to tap the significant growth opportunities across Europe and the Americas.”

“We selected to work with Wyndham Hotel Group because of the company’s reputation as a global brand-builder, which will benefit the future of the Tryp brand,” said Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Sol Meliá. “We are proud to have nurtured this successful brand for the last 10 years. Now, this alliance will help Tryp become a truly global hotel brand by creating long-term synergies between our companies to boost Tryp Hotels to the next level.”

Wyndham Worldwide retained Kirkland & Ellis LLP and DLA Piper LLP (US) for corporate legal services related to this transaction.