Hyatt to acquire Mr and Mrs Smith platform

Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Mr and Mrs Smith have announced an agreement for a Hyatt affiliate to acquire London-based Mr and Mrs Smith, a platform offering direct booking access to a growing collection of over 1,500 boutique and luxury properties. In this acquisition, Hyatt will get 100% of the asset-light Mr and Mrs Smith platform for an enterprise value of £53m in cash consideration. Following the planned acquisition close, over 100 Mr and Mrs Smith colleagues are expected to join Hyatt’s commercial services team, including Tamara Lohan who will serve as Mr and Mrs Smith CEO, reporting to Mark Vondrasek, Hyatt’s chief commercial officer, and James Lohan who will serve as Mr and Mrs Smith chief creative officer. The transaction is anticipated to close in the second quarter of this year. At a later date following the closing, Hyatt plans to unveil direct booking access to properties within the Mr and Mrs Smith platform through Hyatt’s distribution channels, including Hyatt.com and the ‘World of Hyatt’ app. Mark Vondrasek, chief commercial officer of Hyatt, said: “We are excited by this planned acquisition and to explore bringing guests and World of Hyatt members even more global luxury offerings across hundreds of geographies – including over 20 countries where there are currently no Hyatt hotels such as Fiji, Croatia, Iceland and Anguilla. “Founders Tamara and James Lohan, alongside their impressive team, have built the ultimate global direct booking collection of truly unique stay experiences including rooms located in treehouses, within caves, and underwater suites.” He added: “Importantly, we see a lot of synergy between our collective ethos of care, and we look forward to working together to bring our shared focus to new, memorable stay experiences for guests and World of Hyatt members.” Tamara Lohan, co-founder and CEO of Mr and Mrs Smith, said: “I am really excited that we have found such a dynamic and globally trusted brand as Hyatt to take Mr and Mrs Smith into our next chapter. We have long admired and respected Hyatt and are confident that there is no one better placed to build on what we have achieved and take our company to new heights. “Our vision has always been for Mr and Mrs Smith to be the world’s definitive travel club for hotel lovers. Thanks to Hyatt, that vision has become much closer to reality. With Hyatt’s support, Mr and Mrs Smith will be able to offer our community of members, hoteliers and partners so much more.”