Red Lion Hotels sells Sacramento hotel for $9 million, adds a franchise hotel

Spokane's Red Lion Hotels Corp. has made another sale. The hospitality company said Tuesday it's sold the Red Lion Hotel Sacramento at Arden Village.

Paying $9 million for the hotel is Kumar Sharma, who had been franchising the hotel prior to the sale. As part of the deal, Red Lion announced it's formed a new franchise deal with Sharma's subsidiary, Shri Vinayaka Hotel Inc.

That deal allows Red Lion to have the former Woodlake Hotel Sacramento now become part of the chain's franchise group. It will be called the Red Lion Hotel Woodlake Conference Center Sacramento.

“This transaction supports our strategy to reduce debt, expand our franchise system and improve the competitive position of our hotels,” said Jon E. Eliassen, Red Lion's president and CEO.

“We added a new franchise hotel with extensive meeting and banquet facilities that make it a much better fit in that market for the Red Lion brand going forward,” he said in a release. It has 306 rooms and 60,000 square feet of meeting space.

In November 2011 Red Lion became the owner of the Red Lion Hotel Sacramento at Arden Village as part of an agreement with iStar Financial Inc. to purchase 10 previously leased hotels. It's had the Sacramento hotel on the market since then. That deal was done to reduce company debt and was financed by the sale of the Red Lion Fifth Avenue in Seattle.

Red Lion shares have been falling since late June when prices hit $8.63 per share. Tuesday the stock was selling at $7.30.