Hospitality management, development and investment company Raines has entered into a joint venture with Atlantic Hotels Group that adds 16 properties to the Raines’ management portfolio and expands the company’s operations into the Texas market.
The new additions to the Raines management portfolio include Hilton, Marriott and IHG hotels in the Dallas and Waco, Texas, markets. Raines has established an office in Dallas and is sharing office space with Atlantic Hotels Group in order to be close to the new hotels and provide a launchpad for further expansion in the region. Several members of the Atlantic Hotels Group executive team will join the Raines team.
This deal was spearheaded by Kerry Ranson, partner and president of operations at Raines, and Perry Molubhoy, CEO of Atlantic Hotels Group. The two men have known one another for the better part of 20 years and had worked together in “multiple peer groups,” as Ranson described it. “Getting to know someone, you start to see similarities as far as beliefs in how things work in our business,” he said. As the COVID-19 pandemic began to ease, the two men began discussion opportunities to work together. “It took two years of discussions and … making sure all those pieces could come together,” he recalled. Seeking a partner with infrastructure in place that could help Atlantic Hotels Group grow the company’s management side, Molubhoy warmed to the idea of collaborating with Ranson.
Through the partnership, Molubhoy expects the Atlantic Hotels Group team to be able to focus more on developing more hotels. “Once we develop the hotels, hopefully Raines can accommodate [and] continue to manage more and more for us.”
Gaining Ground
Raines, in turn, will gain a foothold in Texas after establishing its base primarily in the southeast and Oklahoma. “This allowed … us to take our model and really put it in place in the Dallas market,” Ranson said. The new Dallas market will help keep the team close to the properties and gain firsthand familiarity with the market, he added. “We've always operated from a feet-on-the-ground perspective.”
Ranson acknowledged that the two companies may operate differently, but he sees these differences as opportunities for maximizing efficiencies. Principal and Managing Partner Grey Raines said that the most important thing for a “long, sustainable relationship” is “truly getting to know each other.” And despite the merger, he added, he still considers the company small and expects to remain “selective” as it grows. “This is a perfect example of what Kerry and I are looking to do to grow the Raines organization.”
Raines’ management portfolio now has 56 properties, three of which were added in March and April. The company acquired HP hotels last year.