The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) opposes Choice Hotels International’s efforts to acquire Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, warning that the combined company would “dominate the economy/limited service segment.”

“To have one franchisor, Choice Hotels, control so many economy and limited service hotels would give our members little opportunity to have a say in whether the franchise mandates and requirements are fair, and significantly limit their options to find a different brand under which they could successfully operate their hotels,” said AAHOA chairman Bharat Patel in a statement. 

The AAHOA’s membership base comprises approximately 20,000 hotel owners, who collectively own around 60% of the hotels in the U.S. 

The trade association’s opposition follows Choice’s decision to go public with an offer to acquire Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a transaction valued at about $9.8 billion, including the assumption of debt. Choice said it opted to go public after Wyndham had decided to “disengage” from previous negotiations. 

Wyndham promptly rejected the offer, with Wyndham chairman Stephen P. Holmes calling the unsolicited bid “underwhelming, highly conditional and subject to significant business, regulatory and execution risk.”

Were the Choice and Wyndham portfolios to combine, the merged company would have 16,500 hotels across 46 brands. 

Although the two companies play across a variety of price points, both have an outsized presence within the economy and midscale sectors, with Choice known for brands like Comfort, Radisson, Sleep Inn, Quality Inn, Clarion, Rodeway Inn and Econo Lodge, and Wyndham for Days Inn, Super 8, Travelodge, Ramada, La Quinta, Wyndham and Wyndham Garden.

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