Sunstone Head Ousted for Missing Out on Hotel Opportunities
Wall Street Journal reports: With historic low pricing, distressed opportunities, and firming fundamentals, the hotel sector is certainly presenting those with equity capital a unique buying opportunity. But it would seem not everyone is convinced. The Wall Street Journal recently shed some light on the recent departure of Art Buser from his position as chief executive and president at Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc: “…Sunstone finalized few of the many acquisitions it examined during Mr. Buser’s two-year run as CEO…That lack of acquisitions at a time when hotel transactions were on the rise was a contributing factor in Mr. Buser resigning under pressure…”
According to Real Capital Analytics data, the Journal stated that, “961 U.S. hotels have sold so far this year for a cumulative $12.1 billion, or an average of nearly $160,000 per room…That is a huge increase from 2009, when only 161 hotels traded hands for $2.8 billion, or nearly $98,000 per room.” This rise in activity is in stark contrast to Sunstone’s individual acquisition record, as in the nearly two-year tenure of Mr Buser, the firm only closed on one major property in Miami for $117 million last August.
Sunstone’s board, feeling as though the firm was missing out on the current unique buying environment, offered Mr Buser incentives to exit the company. Robert Alter, Sunstone founder and current executive chairman, is quoted in the Journal as stating Mr Buser had, “…a lack of making decisions quickly and staying with those decisions.”
View the full article on Wall Street Journal: Sunstone Head Ousted for Missing Out on Hotel Opportunities
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Posted by: Nina Turner