Rosewood Hotels & Resorts


Rosewood Hotels & Resorts is an international luxury hotel and resort company operating 28 hotels in 16 countries, currently owned by Hong Kong-based Rosewood Hotel Group. It was founded in Dallas, Texas in 1979 by Caroline Rose Hunt, the daughter of oil tycoon H. L. Hunt. The company was sold by Rosewood Corp. and Maritz, Wolff & Co in 2011 to New World Hospitality for $229 million along with five of the properties that were sold for $570 million. Arranged by Perkins Coie, the $800 million deal was awarded “Merger & Acquisition of the Year 2011” by the Americas Lodging Investment Summit.

History

Caroline Rose Hunt founded Rosewood in 1979, desiring to create residential-style luxury hotels that would provide guests with attentive personalized services. A year later, Hunt converted the mansion of Texas cotton magnate Sheppard King into Rosewood's first hotel, The Mansion on Turtle Creek, located in the upscale Turtle Creek neighborhood.

Acquisition by Rosewood Hotel Group

Hong-Kong based company Rosewood Hotel Group is a subsidiary of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, a privately owned Hong Kong-based company. Previously, Rosewood Hotel Group was the hotel management arm of New World China Land, a subsidiary of New World Group. The company announced in June 2011 that it had signed a purchase and sale agreement to acquire Rosewood Hotels & Resorts from Rosewood Corp. and Maritz, Wolff & Co. Chief Executive Officer of Rosewood Hotel Group, Sonia Cheng, stated the deal "represents a strategic direction for our company to establish a robust presence in the international luxury hospitality arena and, particularly with our strong Asia base, Rosewood will be positioned for substantially accelerated global growth." She added that the company would "treasure and protect Rosewood's legacy, people and reputation" with Caroline Hunt, honorary chairperson of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, saying it was a "source of satisfaction" that Rosewood would be joining a company that "appreciates the heritage of Rosewood and the values on which it was built." The deal was completed on July 29, 2011 with Rosewood Hotel Group stating in a press release that Rosewood would operate as the ultra-luxury brand of its business and that the company was looking to double the size of Rosewood's property portfolio within five years.

Properties and locations

The Americas