Prima Hotels is a group of approximately 110 luxury and first class hotels and resorts in international locations. The Prima Hotels brand will be taken on and managed by the REZsolutions Hospitality Group (RHG). RHG is the division of REZsolutions which offers branding solutions to independent hotels.

The acquisition of Prima Hotels brings the number of international brands within RHG to four. Existing brands within the division are Summit Hotels Resorts, Sterling Hotels and Resorts and Golden Tulip Worldwide. Commenting on the development, Marshall Calder, president of Prima Hotels, said "Eighteen months ago a strategic review was conducted of all HRI divisions. A key finding of that review was the need to re-brand and re-position Prima Hotels in order to develop the full potential of our member hotels.

"After careful deliberation and negotiation, it was determined that RHG was the right partner - possessing a compatible profile, the requisite infrastructure and the depth of resources - for the task." Adding to this statement, Michael Ball, managing director of REZsolutions Hospitality Group, said "In recent years the RHG portfolio of independent hotels has grown significantly. This acquisition has been made in line with our stated strategic intent to grow this exciting and profitable area of our business.

"Whilst looking for ways to grow our portfolio REZsolutions was approached by HRI to form a technology partnership agreement. Whilst willing to provide our technology services, we were keen to protect the market positioning and competitive advantages held by our existing brands.

"We identified that by acquiring Prima we would gain approximately 110 hotels into the REZsolutions portfolio. We will also have control over a brand that was previously a direct competitor to our own Summit and Sterling brands."

HRI is the parent company of The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd., representing 315 luxury hotels. Headquartered in New York City, the company maintains regional offices in 17 other key cities around the world, and provides member hotels with a broad spectrum of sales, marketing, reservations and promotional activities.

Headquartered in Phoenix, REZsolutions Inc. is the leading provider of technology-based systems, distribution networks, private label services and international marketing programmes for the hospitality industry worldwide. REZsolutions Hospitality Group (RHG) is the division of REZsolutions that offers independent hotels branding solutions combined with dedicated reservation services and global sales and marketing.