CLEVELAND, July 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Vantage Hospitality Group, Inc., today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire America's Best Franchising, Inc.'s hotel brands – America's Best Inns & Suites^®, Country Hearth Inns & Suites^®, Jameson Inn^®, Jameson Suites^®, Signature Inn^®, and 3 Palms Hotels & Resorts(SM), and ABF's license for the Budgetel^® Inns & Suites brand.

Currently the 8^th largest hotel company worldwide, Vantage Hospitality welcomes the six core ABF brands and its 225+ hotels to the family, which already includes more than 1,000 Americas Best Value Inn^®, Canadas Best Value Inn^®, Value Inn Worldwide^®, Value Hotel Worldwide(SM), Lexington^® Inn, Lexington Hotel and Lexington Legacy properties.

"By combining brands under the Vantage umbrella, we will strengthen our synergies and continue to enhance our competitive advantage with a full line of brand segments that address the needs of hotel owners and consumers. This will offer our hoteliers more marketing dollars, enhanced exposure, and additional revenue-generating programs and resources," said Vantage President & CEO Roger Bloss.

Hotel owners worldwide have embraced Vantage's innovative brand affiliation model that offers low fees, flexible agreements, reasonable brand standards, and A Voice and A Vote(SM) in each brand's direction, while providing the lodging industry's most comprehensive resources.

"Earlier this year, the ABFI Board of Directors brought me in to evaluate the capacity to grow ABF and bring more value to our franchisees and our shareholders," said America's Best Franchising President & CEO Sterling Stoudenmire. "The ABFI team eagerly embarked on an immediate transformation of the company, its culture, and our products. We have already made substantial progress, but the team is aiming very high...to transform our existing brands into market leaders and create tremendous value for property owners. After numerous discussions with our board, our franchisees and industry experts, it became very clear that the best way to realize this vision was to find a strategic partner with the scale, resources and expertise necessary to compete, and win, in this demanding market...and to do so in a manner consistent with our 'owners first' philosophy.

"I have no doubt that Vantage is the right fit for ABF. Their conviction to educate, not mandate, and their existing resources and programs will allow them to offer new opportunities to our owners that will help them improve their bottom lines and position them to succeed in the long term."

Contact: Al Cohen
acohen@vantagehospitality.com
888-316-2378

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140717/128037

SOURCE Vantage Hospitality