News Briefs

Today marks the debut of Peregrine Hospitality, a reimagined version of KSL Resorts. Peregrine Hospitality will continue to manage its portfolio of iconic hotels and resorts while actively pursuing opportunities for growth across all asset classes within the hospitality sector.

Led by Chief Executive Officer Greg Kennealey, the Peregrine Hospitality executive team is comprised of Tom Barber, Chief Financial Officer; Ed Eynon, Chief Human Resources Officer; Catherine Hance, Chief Legal Officer; Pete Sams, Chief Operating Officer; and Mike Wilbert, Managing Director and Head of Acquisitions.

The firm’s structure allows it to leverage its team’s strengths and considerable resources, relationships and extensive experience in hospitality management, development and acquisitions to lead investments and manage hotel and resort properties throughout the U.S. and in key global markets.

“This is an exciting time for the organization and reflects the owner/operator model and philosophy that differentiates us within the industry. We are operators at heart, performance-oriented and passionate about hospitality,” said Kennealey. “Our team has extensive experience in the acquisition, development and management of hotel properties, including some of the most exclusive resort destinations. Our talented team of leaders will allow us to grow a portfolio of exceptionally high-quality assets while continuing to elevate the guest experience.”

The name Peregrine, derived from the Latin adjective "peregrinus," means traveler or coming from abroad. The Peregrine Falcon, known for its wide-ranging travels and status as the world's fastest bird, embodies these qualities. According to Kennealey, “Like the Peregrine Falcon, Peregrine Hospitality operates with precision, accuracy, and agility. The new name aptly reflects our company’s ethos.”

At CES, SoundHound AI Inc. will host a hands-on experience with Lucid's new hands-free assistant. 

The Lucid Assistant is a new hands-free voice assistant, offering customers an easy and intuitive way to control many vehicle functions by speech. To demonstrate the Lucid Assistant’s seamless functionality, SoundHound will host a hands-on experience with a Lucid Air at its CES booth (LVCC, West Hall Level 1, Booth #4964, Vehicle Tech & Advanced Mobility).

The Lucid Assistant is powered by SoundHound Chat AI, the voice platform that integrates generative AI technology. This integration will give drivers access to a voice assistant that further enhances Lucid's in-vehicle user experience with interactive knowledge discovery, real-time data, and effortless in-vehicle controls.

“Developing Lucid Assistant in cooperation with SoundHound enables us to deliver much more than a voice control feature,” said Dr. Jean-Philippe Gauthier, Head of Software Engineering at Lucid. “In combination with Lucid’s frequent over-the-air software updates, Lucid Assistant can grow in functionality and capability over time, delivering an ever-better experience for Lucid owners.”

Now live and available to Lucid Air owners, the Lucid Assistant responds to the wake words “Hey Lucid.” Drivers and passengers can ask questions in a natural and conversational way and receive fast, accurate responses through SoundHound’s proprietary technology. This technology ensures that the assistant selects the correct response from the most appropriate domain – whether that’s an answer powered by generative AI, or the kind of response that other large language models may not handle, like real-time questions about weather, sports, stocks, and more.

In addition, the in-vehicle voice assistant lets users access Lucid’s full car manual and can provide answers to almost any question about the vehicle’s functionality. Drivers can also use voice to control critical features like navigation, and many of the Lucid Assistant features and functions can also be accessed without needing a cellular connection.

“Lucid is one of the most exciting automakers in the world, so it stands to reason they are launching this pioneering new voice AI assistant,” said Michael Zagorsek, COO of SoundHound AI. “We believe that SoundHound’s best-in-class voice technology opens up unlimited new opportunities for both drivers and OEMs, and will fundamentally change the way we interact with our vehicles into the future.”

When processing queries, the SoundHound system uses a proprietary approach to massively reduce the risk of “AI hallucinations” – misleading and unpredictable responses often associated with some LLMs. The assistant is available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, German, and Dutch, with additional languages coming soon.

Posiflex will show and demonstrate its newest POS technology aimed at enhancing both consumer and operator experiences at the upcoming NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show in New York City’s Javits Center at booth  6003.

Spanning several paths to enhanced customer-operator transactions, Posiflex’s latest products include a highly modular terminal for full-service or self-service needs, an intelligently designed tablet with customizable buttons for specialized programs, and a terminal with a unique clamshell casing engineered for easy serviceability.

Posiflex will also unveil AI-enhanced customized self-service kiosks, which are a must-see experience in person. Ranging from a kiosk prompted by simple interactive voice commands, to an RFID-enabled one with ultra-quick, hands-free scanning of products at checkout and intelligent camera-assisted weight scales for accurate identification of products, tagged or untagged. With advanced security features integrated, Posiflex’s new product lineup heralds a new era of point-of-sale technology tailored to the modern customer and operator experience.

“For more than four decades, Posiflex has been at the cutting edge of point-of-sale advancements. Our newest technologies, which we’re excited to showcase at NRF 2025, are set to revolutionize POS interactions for consumers and operators alike. Come to booth #6003 and witness the innovation firsthand.” — Doyle Ledford, Senior Vice President of Posiflex

PAR Technology Corp. announced its acquisition of Delaget, LLC, a provider of restaurant analytics and business intelligence solutions. 

Founded in 2001, Delaget serves over 30,000 locations, with 125+ brands among its customers (including 40 of the top 50 North America-based restaurant concepts). Delaget’s comprehensive platform delivers data analytics, loss prevention, and operational insights that help restaurant operators streamline operations and improve profitability.

Savneet Singh, PAR Technology’s Chief Executive Officer and President commented, “The acquisition of Delaget marks another strategic milestone in PAR’s mission to build the industry’s most comprehensive food service platform. Delaget’s analytics capabilities perfectly complement our Operator Cloud solution, while offering immediate value to our customers through enhanced back-office capabilities, delivery operations, and data-driven insights. Our combination will help restaurant operators make better decisions, reduce costs, and drive operational excellence all in real-time. Access to the Delaget product suite will accelerate development timeframes of the PAR Data Platform, a major initiative that unites data across a restaurant’s tech stack to provide unparalleled guest and operational insights.”

“Joining forces with PAR Technology represents an exciting new chapter for Delaget’s customers and employees,” said Jason Tober, Chief Executive Officer of Delaget. He added. “Our shared vision for transforming restaurant operations through data insights, combined with PAR Technology’s scale and industry leadership, will allow us to deliver even greater outcomes to our customers. As part of PAR Technology, we will bring our platform and solutions to even more businesses across the globe and provide an open integration platform that best serves top restaurant operators and brands.”

Transaction Details

The transaction closed on December 31, 2024.  Under the terms of the definitive agreement, PAR acquired 100% of the outstanding equity interests of Delaget in consideration for PAR’s payment of $132 million (subject to adjustment for any cash, indebtedness, and net working capital), which was principally paid in shares of PAR common stock. 

According to preliminary insights from Mastercard SpendingPulse™, U.S. restaurant spending was up 6.3% compared to last year from November 1 through December 24. 

Retail sales excluding automotive increased 3.8% year-over-year from November 1 through December 24. Mastercard SpendingPulse measures in-store and online retail sales, representing all payment types and is not adjusted for inflation.

“The holiday shopping season revealed a consumer who is willing and able to spend but driven by a search for value as can be seen by concentrated e-commerce spending during the biggest promotional periods,” said Michelle Meyer, chief economist, Mastercard Economics Institute. “Solid spending during this holiday season underscores the strength we observed from the consumer all year, supported by the healthy labor market and household wealth gains.”

Key retail trends for the full holiday season included:

• The most ‘valuable’ time of the year – Empowered consumers sought value at every turn this year, responding to promotions during the November and Black Friday shopping period, and filling their baskets in the run-up to December 24. Overall retail sales saw a 3.8% increase compared to 2023, with the last five days of the holiday season accounting for 10% of all holiday spending.
• A balanced basket – Consumer demand for experiences like dining out strengthened in the holiday season, with Restaurant spending growth up 6.3% compared to last year. Additionally, this season saw an increase in spending growth on goods compared to last year, with Apparel (3.6%), Jewelry (4.0%) and Electronics (3.7%) as notable sectors for gift-giving.
• Clicking all the way – Consumers increasingly preferred digital-first shopping this year, with e-commerce, curbside pick-up and delivery being top-of-mind for the festive season. Online retail sales grew 6.7% year-over-year, whereas in-store sales increased 2.9%. Notably, the Apparel sector showed a strong lead in e-commerce sales, with 6.7% growth for online purchases compared to last year.
• Digital-savvy shopping cities – While many Americans shop online for the holidays, there are some cities in particular that have embraced e-commerce. Cities like Tampa (10.6%) and Phoenix (10.0%) lead with double digital growth followed by Minneapolis (8.9%), Dallas (8.4%), Charlotte (7.9%), Orlando (7.8%), and Houston (7.6%) coming in well above the national total for e-commerce sales compared to 2023.

“This holiday season, we saw consumers motivated by deals and retailers respond with promotions to meet the demand,” said Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard and former CEO and chairman of Saks Incorporated. “The value-minded consumer showed up to shop at brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms, with retailers managing across both to capture attention throughout the season.”

About Mastercard SpendingPulse

Mastercard SpendingPulse measures national retail sales based on aggregated and anonymized Mastercard insights, representing all payment types in select markets around the world.

Mastercard SpendingPulse defines “U.S. retail sales” as sales at retailers and food services merchants of all sizes. Sales activity within the services sector (for example, travel services such as airlines and lodging) are not included in the total retail sales figure. SpendingPulse insights are not indicative of Mastercard company performance; insights and forecast are subject to change.