OREANDA-NEWS. Wyndham Hotel Group, a subsidiary of Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN), today announced it has acquired Dolce Hotels and Resorts, a leading provider and manager of group accommodations with a portfolio of 24 properties and over 5,500 guestrooms across seven countries in Europe and North America, for \$57 million in cash.

This acquisition is consistent with Wyndham Worldwide's core asset-light strategy, and allows Wyndham Hotel Group to expand its managed portfolio by nearly 40% with a significantly larger presence in the group and meetings segment. Dolce's exceptional brand recognition among global meeting planners enhances Wyndham Hotel Group's portfolio with significant group and transient cross-selling opportunities across Wyndham's existing managed and franchised operations. Wyndham Hotel Group plans to maintain and grow the Dolce brand along with its signature service, technology and F&B products as part of its existing portfolio of brands.

"Dolce is a terrific strategic fit for us," said Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO, Wyndham Hotel Group. "With over three decades of established brand equity, Dolce is a respected leader in the group space with outstanding destination properties and some of the best meeting product offerings available in the market today. In addition, Dolce has a long, successful history of award-winning innovation in conference planning and management. We look forward to continuing the growth of the Dolce brand and leveraging these Dolce attributes across the Wyndham global system while enhancing the Dolce owner and guest experience."

"Steven Rudnitsky, our president and chief executive officer, and I have consistently looked for strategic opportunities to grow Dolce in a way that preserves the brand, continues our focus on meetings and benefits our property owners," said Philip F. Maritz, chairman of Dolce Hotels and Resorts. "When Wyndham Worldwide agreed to just such an approach with Dolce, Rudnitsky and his Senior Leadership Team concurred that the acquisition would achieve our objectives and provide the best future for all our stakeholders. Our Founder Andy Dolce and the rest of our board supported this approach. Also, speaking as a continuing owner of two Dolce-managed properties through Broadreach Capital Partners, I am confident of incremental benefits under the Wyndham Hotel Group umbrella and its dynamic plans for the brand and its properties."

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to the seller in connection with the transaction.

ABOUT DOLCE HOTELS AND RESORTS
Regularly outperforming competitors in guest and meeting planner satisfaction, Dolce's portfolio of hotels, resorts, conference centers and day meeting centers offer 750,000 square feet of meeting space, host approximately 100,000 events and welcome four million meeting clients each year. 

The Dolce system includes meeting and resort destinations around the world in markets such as the Napa Valley and Aspen in North America and international locations such as Barcelona, Brussels, Munich, Frankfurt, Paris and Provence.These locations will complement the expanding presence of Wyndham Grand meeting destinations in markets such as Chicago, Miami, Berlin, Doha, Hangzhou and Xian, China, giving meeting planners a wide array of options within the same system.

Many properties are certified by the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC). Properties are distinct in design and feature freshly sourced culinary experiences and inspiring environments that bring people together for events. Dolce pioneered the Complete Meetings Package (CMP), a concept designed to address all of the elements planners need when arranging meetings. The CMP is now embraced by many hotel companies and is considered the standard by the IACC. 

ABOUT WYNDHAM HOTEL GROUP
Wyndham Hotel Group, part of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN), is the world's largest and most diverse hotel company with approximately 7,600 hotels and over 655,000 rooms in 71 countries under the hotel brands: Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®, Ramada®, Days Inn®, Super 8®, Wingate by Wyndham®, Baymont Inn & Suites®, Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham®, Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham®, TRYP by Wyndham®, Howard Johnson®, Travelodge® and Knights Inn®. 

All hotels are independently owned and operated excluding certain hotels which are owned or managed by an affiliate of Wyndham Hotel Group.

Wyndham Rewards®, the guest loyalty program of Wyndham Hotel Group, is the world's largest lodging loyalty program as measured by number of participating hotels. It offers more than 38 million members the chance to earn and redeem points for stays at over 7,000 hotels throughout more than 50 countries worldwide. In addition to free stays, members may redeem their points for hundreds of reward options. 

Wyndham Hotel Group is based in Parsippany, New Jersey, U.S. 

ABOUT WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE
One of the world's largest hospitality companies, Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE:WYN) provides a wide range of hospitality services and products through its global portfolio of world-renowned brands. The world's largest hotel company based on the number of properties, Wyndham Hotel Group is home to many of the world's best-known hotel brands, with approximately 7,600 franchised hotels and over 655,000 hotel rooms worldwide. Wyndham Exchange & Rentals is the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and the world's largest professionally managed vacation rentals business, providing more than 5 million leisure-bound families annually with access to over 107,000 vacation properties in over 100 countries through its prominent exchange and vacation rental brands. The industry and timeshare ownership market leader, Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its network of over 200 vacation ownership resorts serving approximately 907,000 owners throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific. Based in Parsippany, N.J., Wyndham Worldwide employs approximately 32,800 associates globally