---
title: "Sonesta Completes Acquisition Of Red Lion Hotels"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/51ffc88e-5331-43ad-9db8-3b7f0173a088
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20210517_sonesta_completes_acquisition_of_red_lion_hotels.html
category: "Hotels"
industry: "Lodging & Travel"
segment: "Hotels"
topics: ["Finance & M&A"]
published: 2021-05-17T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:27:37.572Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1554435493-93422e8220c8?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Sonesta Completes Acquisition Of Red Lion Hotels

**TL;DR:** Sonesta International Hotels Corporation has completed its acquisition of RLH Corporation, expanding its global footprint with over 900 franchised locations. The acquisition establishes Sonesta as one of the largest hotel companies in the world.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2021-05-17. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20210517_sonesta_completes_acquisition_of_red_lion_hotels.html).*

## Story

Sonesta also announced that 35-year hotel industry veteran Keith Pierce is joining Sonesta as Executive Vice President, President of Franchise & Development effective March 18, 2021. John J. Russell, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of RLH, will continue to support Sonesta leadership through the transition until April 30, 2021.

Carlos Flores, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sonesta, made the following statement regarding today's announcement:

"The closing of the Red Lion transaction is transformative for Sonesta. It establishes Sonesta as one of the largest hotel companies in the world, and as an owner, manager and franchisor of hotels. The Red Lion acquisition significantly enhances Sonesta's existing franchising capabilities by adding more than 900 franchised locations to our existing global footprint of branded hotels.

In addition, we are also excited to welcome Keith Pierce as the newest member of Sonesta's executive leadership team. I am confident Keith will fulfill his mandate to aggressively grow and mature Sonesta's franchising business. We look forward to sharing more details of Sonesta's plans for our franchise business in the weeks ahead.

I also wish to thank John Russell for his collaboration and leadership during this transaction."

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- franchise expansion (topic)
- Lodging & Travel (sector)
- executive appointment (topic)
- hotel acquisition (topic)
- Sonesta acquisition of RLH Corporation (deal)

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Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20210517_sonesta_completes_acquisition_of_red_lion_hotels.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/51ffc88e-5331-43ad-9db8-3b7f0173a088).