Jon Bortz on mergers & acquisitions
From REIT M&A—Getting it Right at the 24th Annual REIT Symposium · · NYU Schack
“We wouldn't be doing our fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders if we didn't approach LaSalle; they put themselves in play based on their performance and unhappy shareholders, so we took a position to show we were serious — if you don't want to be a target, perform and execute.”
On , Jon Bortz, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at PEBBLEBROOK HOTEL TRUST, spoke about mergers & acquisitions during REIT M&A—Getting it Right at the 24th Annual REIT Symposium on NYU Schack.
About Jon Bortz
Jon Bortz, chairman and CEO of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, has focused on integrating the company's acquisition of LaSalle Hotel Properties, a deal finalized in late 2018. Bortz stated that the integration went well, with most LaSalle employees retained and integrated into Pebblebrook's collaborative culture. He noted that about half of the acquired portfolio was being redeveloped or transformed, including into a proprietary brand called the "Z Collection," while the company sold approximately $1.2 billion of the acquired assets. Bortz described Pebblebrook as an "active looker" but not an "active pursuer" of further acquisitions, instead prioritizing selling assets and using proceeds to buy back stock, citing a 30% discount between the company's public market value and private asset values. Bortz also discussed the launch of the Curator Hotel & Resort Collection, a platform he described as "built by an owner with operators for owners" to improve bottom-line performance through cost-saving arrangements while allowing hotels to remain independent. He emphasized that the company was leveraging its scale to negotiate master service agreements for items like energy procurement and insurance, targeting $10 million in annual operating savings. On industry conditions, Bortz noted that supply growth was limited and demand was outpacing supply, giving hotels pricing power, though he cautioned that the emergence of the coronavirus created uncertainty about travel demand.