Ashford, Morgan Buying CNL Hotels

CNL Hotels & Resorts, an Orlando, Fla-based nonlisted hotel real estate investment trust, is being acquired in two parts by Ashford Hospitality Trust and Morgan Stanley Real Estate for a total of $6.6 billion.Morgan Stanley Real Estate is acquiring CNL for $20.50 per share in cash and also assuming the REIT's debt, CNL reported. CNL is also selling 51 properties (for about $2.4 billion) to Ashford, a Dallas-based REIT, prior to the closing of the Morgan Stanley deal. Ashford said it sees the CNL portfolio as a "well-located and strong-performing" one with "one of the best hotel collections." And Michael Franco, a managing director at Morgan Stanley Real Estate, said he sees the deal as an opportunity to "acquire eight top-quality resort properties diversified across key U.S. travel destinations." The companies can be found online at http://www.cnlhotels.com, http://www.ahtreit.com, and http://www.morganstanley.com/realestate.