Is Hyatt's Fall IPO Part of the Family's Estate-Planning Process?

Hyatt Hotels (H), which is controlled by the Pritzker family, has filed to go public. The offering will certainly garner lots of attention in the fall.

A few years ago, the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs, as well as Madrone Capital Partners, invested in Hyatt. The main purpose was to provide liquidity for various family members.

And, perhaps the IPO is a part of this estate-planning process (apparently, periodic distributions are required to be made to family members).

Unfortunately, Hyatt is suffering from the recession (who isn’t?). For the first half of this year, the company posted a net loss of $36 million, which compares to a profit of $173 million in the same period a year ago. During this time, revenues fell 19% to $1.64 billion.

Comments

[spald_fr:]

I expected the Pritzker's to sell Hyatt. The chain has not maintained their properties for a number of years. The hotels are shabby. Haven't stayed in a Hyatt in years.

(To those who travel, try the Kimpton hotel group. Same price as Hyatt but NICE properties and services)

Aug 07 10:25 AM