CHICAGO–Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $750 million of the Company’s common stock. The authorization is consistent with Hyatt’s ongoing commitment to return meaningful capital to stockholders while continuing to invest in growth opportunities. Year-to-date through November 15, 2017, the Company repurchased over $700 million of common stock. As of December 14, 2017, the Company had approximately $864 million available under its share repurchase authorization (including the $750 million authorized on December 14, 2017).
On November 9, 2017, the Company sold the 550-room Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa in Monterey, CA for approximately $60 million, resulting in the recognition of a pre-tax gain of approximately $17 million. The gain will be characterized as a special item and will be recorded outside of Hyatt’s Adjusted EBITDA. The sale was part of six properties actively marketed for sale as announced during the Company’s first quarter 2017 earnings call. The property will remain in the Hyatt system under a long-term franchise agreement.
The sale of Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa brings the Company’s total dispositions, including hotel properties and other investments, to approximately $920 million in 2017. These dispositions reflect a total estimated headwind of approximately $56 million to Owned & Leased hotels segment Adjusted EBITDA in 2018, inclusive of an approximate $9 million impact from Monterey. The anticipated Adjusted EBITDA impact from the sale of Monterey on 2017 results is immaterial.
On December 11, 2017, Hyatt received net cash proceeds of approximately $217 million related to the sale of Avendra LLC to Aramark Corporation. The transaction resulted in the recognition of approximately $20 million in equity earnings from unconsolidated hospitality ventures which, consistent with the Company’s Form 8-K dated October 16, 2017, will be characterized as a special item and recorded outside of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS.
