Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide today announced plans to spin off its vacation ownership business, Starwood Vacation Ownership (SVO), into a separate publicly traded company, according to a news release. In addition to accelerating Starwood’s ongoing asset light transformation, the transaction will create a new pure-play vacation ownership company with a seasoned management team and a strong balance sheet to take advantage of increasing growth opportunities within the timeshare industry. SVO reported vacation ownership revenues of approximately $640 million in 2014 and has sold more than $6 billion of vacation ownership intervals to more than 220,000 owners over its 30+ year history.
Matthew Avril, who retired as president of Starwood’s Hotel Group in 2012, will return to lead the new company as chief executive officer following completion of the spin off. Stephen Williams will continue to serve as chief operating officer. The spin off is expected to be completed by year-end.
