Hilton Worldwide, based in McLean, Virginia, has agreed to acquire the Graduate Hotels brand for $210 million and expects to grow the brand, whose hotels are near college campuses, significantly in coming years.
Hilton’s purchase includes the brand acquired from Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners, which will remain the owner of the real estate properties.
Graduate Hotels, which opened its first property in Athens, Georgia, by the University of Georgia in 2014, has close to three dozen properties in the U.S. That includes a Graduate Hotel by the Naval Academy in Annapolis, a location near the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and in Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Graduate Hotels also has a presence in the UK with hotels at Oxford and Cambridge.
Each hotel includes a theme specific to the university it serves.
Under its management, Hilton estimates it can grow the Graduate Hotels brand to as many as 500 properties worldwide.
“We have long had a high bar for adding brands to our portfolio, whether organically or through acquisition, and Graduate will be another driver of growth for us, representing a unique opportunity to serve more guests in more sought-after destinations,” said Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta.
Graduate will join 22 other Hilton-operated hotel brands at more than 7,500 hotels around the world. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024.
Editor’s note: The headline of this story has been corrected with the cost to acquire Graduate Hotels.
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