Wyndham Destinations Buys Travel+Leisure From Meredith

Meredith to continue publishing Travel+Leisure under licensing agreement; Wyndham to rebrand itself

Wyndham Destinations Inc. is buying the Travel+Leisure publication from Meredith Corp. for $100 million, in a deal that would expand Wyndham’s business beyond its core vacation-ownership operations.

In addition to its eponymous magazine, Travel+Leisure operates membership-based travel services. Wyndham runs 230 timeshare resorts, with more than four million members across its business lines. The combined company would have 18 resort, travel-club and lifestyle-travel brands.

Meredith will continue publishing Travel+Leisure under a 30-year renewable licensing agreement, with the Travel+Leisure staff remaining as Meredith employees, the companies said.

Wyndham Destinations, which spun off Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc. in 2018, plans to change its name to Travel+Leisure Co. and trade under the ticker symbol “TNL” as of mid-February.

The goal of the combined company will be to grow its membership travel-club businesses, offer new travel services and expand licensing agreements.

“What we will do is start providing more subscription-based travel benefits for a lower price and for a shorter duration,” Wyndham Chief Executive Officer Michael Brown said in an interview on Tuesday.

Under the agreement, the Orlando, Florida-based timeshare company will initially pay $35 million in cash at closing, followed by payments through 2024.

The acquisition is expected to begin adding to the company’s earnings in the second year.

Meredith, known for lifestyle titles like Better Homes & Gardens and Allrecipes, acquired Travel+Leisure as part of its purchase of Time Inc. in 2018.

The Des Moines, Iowa-based company later sold Time magazine for $190 million to billionaire Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce.com Inc., and his wife, Lynne Benioff, in the face of declines in print advertising and newsstand revenue. Fortune magazine, which was also part of Time, was sold to Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon for $150 million.

Wyndham Destinations reported a roughly 44% decline in quarterly revenue in October, as the coronavirus pandemic hurt its business by $31 million.

Corporate travel has been hit hard as companies shifted to remote work during the health crisis. Buoyed by road trippers, leisure travel has held up better.

“The demand is there today for a dramatic increase in leisure travel,” Mr. Brown said. “We know that to be the case, but the restraint is infections and state restrictions like we have in California today.”