BETHESDA, MARYLAND Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is preparing the sale of common shares and debt securities that could net the REIT up to US$500 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The share sale, which could occur at any time, would be used to fund general corporate purposes, including investing and paying down debt. Pebblebrook already has more than US$200 million in cash on its balance sheet.
Pebblebrook, founded in December 2009 by former LaSalle Hotel Properties CEO Jon Bortz, is also nearing what would be its ninth hotel acquisition in the past calendar year: the 252-key Argonaut Hotel, San Francisco. Pebblebrook CEO Raymond Martz disclosed the impending US$84 million transaction, scheduled to close next month, in an interview with The Washington Post.
“We think right now we are in a long and protracted period of recovery in the hotel cycle, so it’s always good to have capital to take advantage of that,” Martz says.