PARSIPPANY, N.J., Aug. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wyndham Worldwide
(NYSE: WYN) today announced executive leadership appointments for
the new, publicly traded pure-play hotel company to be created by
the recently announced 2018 spin-off from Wyndham Worldwide.
With 18 brands and over 8,100 hotels, Wyndham's hotel business
is the world's largest hotel company by number of properties.
It is home to an industry-leading loyalty program with more
than 50 million members, and is emerging from a three-year
strategic focus on improved brand quality, distribution technology,
and brand marketing. Anchored by iconic hotel brands including Days
Inn and Super 8, the future asset-light, fee-for-service hotel
company is poised to build on its leading position in the economy
and midscale segments, while growing its upscale portfolio and
management business.
As previously announced, Geoff
Ballotti, current CEO of Wyndham Hotel Group, will continue
to lead the hotel company as President and CEO. Also recently
announced, David Wyshner has joined
Wyndham Worldwide as CFO and will become CFO of the new hotel
company upon spin.
The following new appointments were announced today:
- Chief Strategy and Development Officer: Tom Barber, currently Senior Vice President,
M&A and Operational Excellence at Wyndham Worldwide.
- General Counsel: Paul Cash,
currently Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Wyndham
Destination Network. Cash will assume this role at the end of
2017.
- Chief Administrative Officer: Mary
Falvey, currently Executive Vice President and Chief Human
Resources Officer at Wyndham Worldwide. Falvey will assume
this role immediately in addition to her current role at Wyndham
Worldwide.
- Chief Marketing Officer: Barry
Goldstein, currently Chief Marketing Officer at Wyndham
Hotel Group.
- Chief Operating Officer: Bob
Loewen, currently Chief Operating Officer of Wyndham Hotel
Group.
"This proven and experienced leadership team of industry
veterans is perfectly suited to move this business forward as a
standalone leader in hospitality, with an incredible global
portfolio, a strong and resilient asset-light business model,
strong cash flow, and a growing pipeline," said Ballotti. "Each of
our leaders brings a unique perspective and background that
together creates a powerful combination of public company and
hospitality industry expertise as we look ahead to growing our
collection of brands and driving lasting value for
shareholders."
On August 2, 2017, Wyndham
Worldwide announced plans to spin off the company's hotel business,
resulting in two separate, publicly traded companies. Wyndham
Hotel Group, with headquarters in Parsippany, NJ, will become a new, publicly
traded pure-play hotel company with a portfolio of renowned
brands. The other publicly traded company will include
Wyndham Vacation Ownership, with headquarters in Orlando, Florida, the world's largest publicly
traded timeshare company and Wyndham Destination Network, home to
RCI, the world's largest timeshare exchange company. The
corporate names of the post-spin public companies have not yet been
decided.
The two public companies intend to enter into long-term
exclusive license agreements to retain their affiliation with one
of the industry's top rated loyalty programs, Wyndham Rewards, as
well as continued collaboration on key inventory sharing and
customer cross-sell initiatives.
BIOGRAPHIES
Tom Barber has served
as Senior Vice President, M&A and Operational Excellence at
Wyndham Worldwide, since 2012. Prior to joining Wyndham, he
served as Director, Mergers & Acquisitions at Credit Suisse
Securities, where he was involved in more than $20 billion in transactions across most industry
sectors. Prior to joining Credit Suisse Securities, he served
as Manager, Strategy Consulting at Gemini Consulting and as a
business development and product manager at Microsoft
Corporation.
Paul Cash has served
as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Wyndham
Destination Network since 2010 and with the Company since 2005.
Prior, Cash was a partner in the Mergers and Acquisitions,
International and Entertainment and New Media practice groups of
Alston + Bird LLP, New York, N.Y.,
where he worked extensively in the negotiation and documentation of
domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures,
venture capital investments and intellectual property licenses.
Previously, Cash was an associate at Pünder, Volhard, Weber &
Axster in Germany.
Mary Falvey is
Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at
Wyndham Worldwide, where she leads a wide range of human
resources and corporate operations functions across the global
enterprise, including human resources, communications, corporate
real estate and facility operations, security, corporate social
responsibility, and event management. Prior, Falvey served in
several senior leadership positions at Cendant Corporation,
including Executive Vice President of Global Human Resources for
RCI and Vice President of Human Resources for the hotel
division. Earlier in her career, she held various human
resources positions at Nabisco.
Barry Goldstein was
named Chief Marketing Officer of Wyndham Hotel Group in March
2017. Goldstein was previously Chief Digital and Distribution
Officer for Wyndham Hotel Group, supporting the company's digital
marketing strategies. Prior to joining Wyndham, Goldstein was Chief
Revenue Officer for Dolce Hotels and Resorts (later acquired by
Wyndham Hotel Group) and Vice President, Global Sales Strategy,
Technology and Operations, at Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide.
Bob Loewen is
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Wyndham
Hotel Group. Previously, Loewen was Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer for Wyndham Hotel Group, responsible for
financial reporting, forecasting and planning, mergers and
acquisitions and business development investments. He joined
the company in April 2000 as
Director, Corporate Audit. Prior to Wyndham, he served as
division controller for Becton Dickinson Healthcare Consulting.
David Wyshner is
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Wyndham
Worldwide. He was most recently President and CFO of Avis Budget
Group, the global vehicle rental service provider, and served as
Avis Budget's CFO for more than ten years. Prior to that, Wyshner
served as Executive Vice President and Treasurer of Cendant
Corporation, a global diversified services company with
approximately $20 billion in annual
revenues, where Wyshner led the execution of that company's
separation into three publicly traded companies.
ABOUT WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE
Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN)
is one of the largest global hospitality companies, providing
travelers with access to a collection of trusted hospitality brands
in hotels, vacation ownership, and unique accommodations including
vacation exchange, holiday parks, and managed home rentals. With a
collective inventory of nearly 130,000 places to stay across more
than 110 countries on six continents, Wyndham Worldwide and its
38,000 associates welcomes people to experience travel the way they
want. This is enhanced by Wyndham Rewards®, the Company's
re-imagined guest loyalty program across its businesses, which is
making it simpler for members to earn more rewards and redeem their
points faster. For more information, please
visit www.wyndhamworldwide.com.
ABOUT WYNDHAM HOTEL GROUP
Wyndham Hotel Group, hotel
giant with an unmatched global presence, is one of three
hospitality business units of Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN).
Driving the democratization of travel, Wyndham Hotel Group is
elevating the experience of the everyday traveler, changing the
game so every traveler – no matter how much they spend or how they
like to travel – has an extraordinary experience. As both a leading
hotel brand franchisor and hotel management services provider, the
company's global portfolio consists of more than 8,100 hotels and
over 705,700 rooms in 79 countries under the following brands:
Dolce Hotels and Resorts®, Wyndham Grand®, Dazzler® Hotels,
Esplendor® Boutique Hotels, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®, Wyndham
Garden® Hotels, TRYP by Wyndham®, The Trademark Hotel Collection,
Wingate by Wyndham®, Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham®, Microtel Inn
& Suites by Wyndham®, Ramada®, Baymont Inn & Suites®, Days
Inn®, Super 8®, Howard Johnson®, Travelodge®, The Trademark Hotel
Collection®, and Knights Inn®. Wyndham Rewards, ranked number one
hotel rewards program for 2016-2017 by U.S. News & World
Report, offers more than 50 million members the opportunity to earn
and redeem points at more than 25,000 hotels, condos and homes
globally. For more information, visit www.wyndhamworldwide.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking
statements are those that convey management's expectations as to
the future based on plans, estimates and projections at the time
Wyndham Worldwide makes the statements and may be identified by
terminology such as "will," "expect," believe," "plan,"
"anticipate," "goal," "future," "outlook," guidance," "target,"
"estimate" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors,
which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of
Wyndham Worldwide or the post-spin companies to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements contained in this press release include
statements related to the Wyndham Worldwide's current views and
expectations with respect to the spin off and related transactions,
as well as the post-spin companies' future operating, financial and
business performance.
You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this
press release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements include
general economic conditions, the performance of the financial and
credit markets, the economic environment for the hospitality
industry, the impact of war, terrorist activity or political
strife, operating risks associated with the hotel, vacation
exchange and rentals and vacation ownership businesses,
uncertainties that may delay or negatively impact the spin off or
cause the spin off to not occur at all, uncertainties related to
the post-spin companies' ability to realize the anticipated
benefits of the spin off, uncertainties related to Wyndham
Worldwide's ability to successfully complete the spin off on a
tax-free basis within the expected time frame or at all,
unanticipated developments that delay or otherwise negatively
affect the spin off, uncertainties related to Wyndham Worldwide's
ability to obtain financing for the two companies or the terms of
such financing, unanticipated developments related to the impact of
the spin off on our relationships with our customers, suppliers,
employees and others with whom we have relationships, unanticipated
developments resulting from possible disruption to our operations
resulting from the proposed spin-off, the potential impact of the
spin-off and related transactions on Wyndham Worldwide's credit
rating, uncertainties relating to Wyndham Worldwide's exploration
of strategic alternatives for its European rentals brands and the
outcome and timing of that process, as well as those factors
described in Wyndham Worldwide's Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed
with the SEC on February 17, 2017,
and in Wyndham Worldwide's subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Except for Wyndham
Worldwide's ongoing obligations to disclose material information
under the federal securities laws, it undertakes no obligation to
release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements,
to report events or to report the occurrence of unanticipated
events.
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SOURCE Wyndham Worldwide