TKO’s CEO Makes Case for $2 Billion Bid on Service Properties’ Hotels

Photo Credit: A swimming pool at the Sonesta Select Phoenix Camelback, owned by Service Properties Trust. Sonesta International Hotels The CEO of the South Dakota company bidding $2 billion in cash for Service Properties Trust’s hotels says the trust has underinvested in them for years, and that his company has the means to fix that. TKO hasn’t publicly disclosed how it would finance the full offer. Jim Koehler, CEO of TKO, told Skift in his first public interview since the bid that he has offered to share his personal financial statement with the trust, and that he holds "nine figures" in cash. The trust’s 92-hotel portfolio, with nearly 21,000 rooms, is roughly four times the size of TKO’s. TKO, registered as The Koehler Organization in Aberdeen, owns 44 hotels with a little over 4,000 rooms, according to CoStar. Koehler said the portfolio exceeds 5,000 rooms once “stakes in other companies” are included. TKO is offering to acquire Service Properties T