REPORT FROM THE U.S.—Noble Investment Group (Noble), a leading lodging and hospitality investment organization, and Interstate Hotels & Resorts (Interstate), the United States’ largest independent hotel management company, announced today that Noble’s hotel operating business, Noble Management Group, has become part of the Interstate organization. Based in Atlanta, this dedicated management division of Interstate now operates as Noble-Interstate Management Group and is responsible for the management of Noble’s existing and significantly expanding portfolio of hotels.
Interstate has an outstanding reputation as a highly respected operating organization that has had great success in driving returns for large ownership groups through dedicated management platforms. This strategy immediately adds approximately 60 high-quality hotels to Interstate’s management portfolio, which now encompasses nearly 400 hotels worldwide.
Since 1993, Noble has been recognized as a preeminent owner and developer of premium branded upper-upscale and upscale hotels throughout the United States. Through its discretionary, real estate private equity funds, Noble has invested more than $2 billion in lodging assets, including 11 new investments to date this year. This new management platform allows Noble and its senior leaders to remain focused on sourcing value-added investment opportunities, executing asset repositioning strategies and asset managing its owned hotel portfolio.
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The longstanding relationships between the senior leaders at both Interstate and Noble helped enable the creation of this new management platform. Jim Abrahamson, Interstate’s chief operating officer and chief executive officer designate, has developed strong professional and personal relationships with Noble and its senior leaders over the past two decades. In addition, prior to joining Noble in early 2005 as a partner in charge of asset management, Bob Morse served as chief operating officer of Interstate.
“Noble Management Group brings a portfolio of high-quality branded hotels and outstanding operating talent to the Interstate organization,” Abrahamson said. “This underscores the confidence of major hotel real estate investors in Interstate and further leverages our exceptional platform of associates, business intelligence systems and global management infrastructure.” Tom Hewitt, chairman and chief executive officer at Interstate, concurred by adding, “We have brought together two industry leading operating organizations, which will enable a built-in growth platform for both companies, truly a win-win arrangement benefitting owners, investors and associates at Interstate and Noble.”
“In an increasingly complex and competitive business environment, this marks an unparalleled opportunity for two successful, mission-driven operating companies to put in place the infrastructure and resources that we believe will deliver great value to Noble’s portfolio of hotels,” said Mit Shah, Noble’s chief executive officer. “The combination of Interstate and Noble Management Group’s strong operating platforms immediately advances the ability to optimize revenue and profitability throughout all of Noble’s hotels, provides significant future growth opportunities for members of our operating team, and allows Noble’s senior leadership to focus on executing our increasingly active investment pipeline.”