Hilton has announced a deal to acquire the Graduate Hotel brand, which was founded by Ben Weprin of AJ Capital Partners in Nashville. The agreement involves Hilton paying $210 million for the rights to the Graduate brand, which includes 35 properties situated in college towns throughout the United States, including a hotel near Vanderbilt University.
As part of the agreement, Hilton will also oversee the future growth of the Graduate brand, while AJ Capital will retain ownership of the current Graduate Hotels. Each of these hotels will be operated under long-term Hilton franchise agreements.
Chris Nassetta, Hilton’s president and CEO, expressed his belief that the Graduate brand could potentially expand to include 400-500 hotels globally in the future.
“Adding Graduate Hotels to our portfolio of award-winning brands accelerates our expansion in the lifestyle space by pairing an existing much-loved brand with the power of Hilton’s strong commercial engine to drive growth,” Nassetta stated in a news release regarding the acquisition.
