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Travel + Leisure will be acquired by a timeshare company for $ 100 million. What exactly will it look like?
Timeshare company acquires Travel + Leisure
Wyndham Destinations has just acquired the popular Travel + Leisure travel publication from Meredith Corporation. Wyndham Destinations is a timeshare company operated separately from Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
With this $ 100 million acquisition, Meredith Company will receive $ 35 million at closing, with follow-up payments to be finalized by June 2024. The acquisition is expected to be earnings neutral to the new Travel + Leisure Co the first year, and accretive during the year. of them. The acquisition follows Meredith Company which reported a loss of $ 289 million earlier this year, given the harshness of the publicity that has been affected by the pandemic.
Meredith Company will continue to operate and monetize Travel + Leisure under a 30-year, royalty-free, renewable licensing relationship. The agreement also includes a five-year marketing commitment to Meredith’s brand portfolio.
As described, this agreement combines “the travel company’s portfolio of resort, membership and lifestyle brands with the world’s most trusted curator of travel lifestyle content.”
Wyndham Destinations says this is accelerating its strategic plan to “build on its leadership position as the world’s largest vacation club and exchange company and expand into new leisure travel and licensing markets.”
Michael Brown, CEO of Wyndham Destinations, describes the acquisition as follows:
“We acquired Travel + Leisure, including access to its global audience of 35 million loyal subscribers across multiple platforms and nearly 60,000 club members, because it matches our passion and our goal of putting the world on vacation. Over the past 18 months, we’ve laid the groundwork to expand our footprint beyond our core vacation property business, and today we’re adding one of the most trusted and influential brands in the vacation property industry. travel through the acquisition of Travel + Leisure.
This iconic brand, with its authoritative content and large audience, will help accelerate and amplify the growth of new small-cap travel companies and services as we take the next step to expand our reach within the industry. world of leisure travel.
Wyndham Destinations will be renamed Travel + Leisure Co.
It is not only that Wyndham Destinations is acquiring Travel + Leisure, but the timeshare company will be renamed Travel + Leisure Co., and from mid-February 2021, Travel + Leisure Co. stock will begin trading at NYSE under the symbol TNL.
With this change, we should expect new branded products from Wyndham Destinations, with the goal of expanding the timeshare business, launching new branded travel services, and expanding licensing agreements under the Travel + Leisure group.
Help me understand this acquisition
The concept of companies buying media companies in their “space” is not new. Everyone has the right to monetize their business however they want, that’s perfect for Travel + Leisure and Wyndham Destinations I guess.
That being said, I can’t help but find it all a bit ironic. These companies are literally on opposite ends of the travel spectrum – Travel + Leisure focuses primarily on luxury hotels and exotic destinations, and publishes ‘travel inspiration’ like this:
Meanwhile, Wyndham Destinations has timeshare properties in Orlando that look like this:
Photo credit: Wyndham Destinations
Now, to be fair, I’m guessing Wyndham Destinations probably made a travel and recreation deal, given the environment. Also, I imagine the timeshare business hasn’t been hit as hard as other companies in the travel industry, as customers are locked away their entire lives.
Still, is this really a good solution in terms of cross-marketing opportunities? “Well, I was going to stay at the Four Seasons Bora Bora for a week, but instead let me buy a timeshare in Orlando for a lifetime?”
Personally, I have very strong feelings about the timeshare business, but I do admit that other people feel differently, so I won’t even go into that. But I just don’t understand if Wyndham Destinations is somehow trying to move upmarket here, or if Wyndham Destinations wants Travel + Leisure’s audience to go down.
The best comparison I can make is that it would be like Applebee acquiring Capital Grille and then renaming all the restaurants under the name Capital Grille.
At the end of the line
Travel + Leisure is bought by a large timeshare company. The timeshare company will be rebranded as Travel + Leisure, and hopefully the purchase of the media company will expand its potential consumer base.
However, I still can’t quite figure this out as the two companies don’t seem to really complement each other.
What do you think of the acquisition of Travel + Leisure by Wyndham Destinations?
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