Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management has acquired Thayer Lodging Group Inc., a privately held hotel investment company. Since forming its first private equity fund more than two decades ago, Thayer completed 43 hotel investments with a total acquisition cost of approximately $2.5 billion. Its properties include the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco. The former Thayer Lodging will continue to operate Thayer’s investment management, asset management, and property management businesses as a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management. Brookfield, which has more than $175 billion in assets under management, has a long history of owning and operating assets with a focus on renewable energy, property, infrastructure, and private equity. According to this report in The Wall Street Journal, Brookfield has had limited exposure to the lodging industry, with a few notable exceptions. These include the company’s takeover of the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas and the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas through debt positions during the economic downturn. Read more over at The Wall Street Journal.
