This pandemic world has really changed everything: The new year brings the unlikeliest of travel marriages between a timeshare company and one of the industry’s leading media brands.
Wyndham Destinations, the vacation rental and timeshare company spun off parent Wyndham Hotels in 2018, is acquiring Travel + Leisure for $100 million in cash, the company announced Wednesday morning. The timeshare and travel club company will change its name to Travel + Leisure Co. sometime in the first quarter of this year. Meredith Corp. — the media brand’s parent company — will continue to operate the media side of the company under a 30-year licensing agreement.
The acquisition is the latest in Wyndham Destinations’ ongoing push to expand the reach of its timeshare and vacation clubs into new markets and appeal to younger travelers.
“Over the past 18 months, we have laid the foundation to expand our footprint beyond our core vacation ownership business and, today, we add one of the most trusted and influential brands in travel through the acquisition of Travel + Leisure,” Wyndham Destinations CEO Michael Brown said in a statement.
The $100 million price tag shows a significant financial gain for the Travel + Leisure brand, which American Express Publishing sold in 2013 to Time Inc. in a bundle with other lifestyle publications like Food & Wine. But the sale price was so low that Time Inc. actually made a $20 million gain on its acquisition after settling a management agreement with American Express.
Meredith Corp. acquired Time in early 2018 in a $2.8 billion deal.
Wyndham Destinations paid $35 million in cash at closing with trailing payments expected to wrap no later than June 2024.
While the hotel industry faced its worst year on record in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, industry analysts were optimistic on the timeshare sector due to its ability to offer owners and members more control over their space. Wyndham Destinations even managed to post a $40 million profit by the third quarter of last year.
Meredith Corp. reported a $289 million loss for the same quarter.
The Wyndham Destinations acquisition of Travel + Leisure appears to maintain distinct identities for both companies’ existing brands.