Hilton Grand Vacations to Acquire Diamond Resorts

Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. (“HGV” or “the Company”) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Diamond Resorts International, Inc. (“Diamond”) from funds (the “Apollo Funds”) managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “Apollo”), funds managed by affiliates of Reverence Capital Partners (“Reverence”), and other Diamond stockholders, in a stock-based transaction with an equity value of approximately $1.4 billion¹. Under the terms of the agreement, the Apollo Funds and other Diamond stockholders will receive 34.5 million shares of HGV common stock, subject to customary adjustments.

The acquisition will combine the strength of HGV’s brand and culture with Diamond, the largest independent timeshare operator. Diamond’s 92 leisure resorts and nearly 400,000 owners uniquely complement HGV’s 62 upscale and luxury properties and over 325,000 owners, and the combination will create the premier vacation ownership company with the broadest offering in the industry.

“I’m excited to announce our transformational agreement to add Diamond Resorts to the Hilton Grand Vacations family, accelerating our next phase of growth,” said Mark Wang, president and CEO of Hilton Grand Vacations. “This strategic combination will leverage the strengths of each company, positioning us to drive significant Net Owner Growth while enhancing efficiencies of scale and generating significant shareholder value. Diamond’s extensive regional, drive-to network of resorts and expanded demographics uniquely complement HGV’s best-in-class lead generation, world-class hospitality, and premier destinations backed by the strength of the Hilton brand. For our valued team members, owners and guests, this combination creates new opportunities to provide exciting destinations and memorable vacation experiences while continuing to provide exceptional levels of service.”

“Through this agreement, HGV and Diamond will create a new global standard of vacation ownership hospitality,” said Mike Flaskey, CEO of Diamond Resorts. “Together, we will expand Diamond’s unique events and concert platform and deliver the broadest range of world-class experiences available in the industry, providing our members and owners with additional flexibility, unforgettable vacations and experiences of a lifetime. We are thrilled to join the HGV family and look forward to achieving new heights of excellence.”

Transaction Highlights

• Enables significant value creation from scale: combines the largest independent timeshare company with Hilton Grand Vacations’ strong brand and culture
  • Expands and diversifies HGV’s resort portfolio into over 20 new markets.
  • The combined company will have 720,000 owners, 154 resorts and 48 sales centers.

• Diversifies HGV’s portfolio: adds additional drive-to destinations and allows HGV to leverage the Hilton network to widen customer reach
  • Doubles the number of vacation options for the combined owner base.
  • Diamond’s complementary footprint will bolster HGV’s strong network of beach, attraction-based, and urban markets, while adding new regional drive-to destinations in outdoor, desert and ski locations.
  • Broader range of pricing and product options will widen customer reach, enhancing alignment with the 112 million Hilton Honors members​.

• Accelerates launch of HGV-branded trust product offering: rebrand Diamond's properties over time to drive revenue growth in a new customer segment
  • Combining HGV's points-based deeded product with Diamond’s points-based trust structure will allow the Company to cater to a wider audience, attract more new buyers and drive incremental growth in a capital-efficient manner.
  • HGV’s deeded product provides premium pricing, inventory sourcing flexibility, and the ability to pre-sell projects to support strong project-level cash flow, while giving buyers and owners the value of guaranteed availability.
  • The introduction of a trust product allows for lower barriers to ownership, reduced inventory delivery volatility and inventory recycling, enabling smoother sales and upgrades while providing buyers and owners network and pricing flexibility.
  • Integrates Diamond’s innovative Events of a Lifetime® experiential sales and marketing platform that drives strong engagement and Volume Per Guest (VPG) premiums with HGV’s owner base.

• Generates over $125 million in run-rate cost synergies, expected to be achieved in the first 24 months following close
  • Significant future revenue synergy opportunities.

• Increases recurring EBITDA streams and drives overall cash flow, with adjusted free cash flow per share accretion in year one²
  • The combined company is expected to generate steady-state adjusted free cash flow conversion of 50-60%, driven by its realization of cost synergies, significant inventory pipeline, acquired inventory and reduced long-term inventory spending.
  • Adding new owners embeds additional value for the company over the life of their ownership.
  • The combined company is anticipated to generate approximately 50% of Segment Adjusted EBITDA from recurring sources, including club membership fees, property management fees and financing fees.

• Compelling valuation and deal structure facilitate financial flexibility and deleveraging
  • Significant cash flow generation is expected to allow for rapid deleverage, returning to below 3.0x within 24 months.
  • Pro-forma liquidity of $1.0 billion at year-end 2020.

Transaction Details

Under the terms of the agreement, the Apollo Funds and the other Diamond stockholders, including the Reverence Funds, are expected to receive 34.5 million shares of HGV common stock, valued at approximately $1.4 billion, subject to customary adjustments. Upon transaction close, existing HGV shareholders will own approximately 72% of the combined company and the Apollo Funds will own approximately 28% of the combined company.

The transaction, which was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors for both companies, is expected to close in the summer of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The issuance of HGV common stock in the transaction is subject to shareholder approval.

HGV’s management team, including President & Chief Executive Officer Mark Wang, Chief Financial Officer Dan Mathewes, and Chief Operating Officer Gordon Gurnik, will continue to serve in their current roles upon transaction close. HGV’s Board of Directors will be expanded from 7 to 9 members, and the Apollo Funds will have the right to appoint two directors as long as their equity ownership remains at or above 15% of the outstanding stock at closing and one director as long as their equity ownership remains at or above 10% of the outstanding stock at closing.

Advisors

BofA Securities is acting as exclusive financial advisor for HGV, and Alston & Bird LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and Foley & Lardner LLP are acting as legal counsel. Credit Suisse is acting as lead financial advisor and Goldman Sachs is also acting as financial advisor for Diamond, with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acting as legal counsel.

HGV has received financing commitments from BofA Securities, Deutsche Bank and Barclays with PJT Partners acting as capital markets advisor to HGV.