Sonesta International Hotels Corporation has completed its acquisition of RLH Corporation. Sonesta also announced that Keith Pierce is joining Sonesta as executive vice president, president of franchise & development. John J. Russell Jr., chief executive officer of RLH, will continue to support Sonesta leadership through the transition.

Carlos Flores, president and chief executive officer of Sonesta, said, “The closing of the Red Lion transaction is transformative for Sonesta. It establishes Sonesta as one of the largest hotel companies in the world, and as an owner, manager and franchisor of hotels.  The Red Lion acquisition significantly enhances Sonesta’s existing franchising capabilities by adding more than 900 franchised locations to our existing global footprint of branded hotels. In addition, we are also excited to welcome Keith Pierce as the newest member of Sonesta’s executive leadership team.  I am confident Keith will fulfill his mandate to aggressively grow and mature Sonesta’s franchising business.  We look forward to sharing more details of Sonesta’s plans for our franchise business in the weeks ahead. I also wish to thank John Russell for his collaboration and leadership during this transaction.”