In addition to the acquisition of the 32 hotels--29 of which operate under the Marriott-owned brands of Renaissance Hotels & Resorts and Courtyard by Marriott--the arrangement involves a purchase and sale feature that allows for Marriott's disposition of five of the properties and a single joint venture to San Clemente, CA-based Sunstone in return for $419 million. It also allows for the sale of eight hotels for $578 million to Chicago's Walton.

Accordingly, Marriott will have paid $455 million for the remaining 19 hotels and one joint venture. But the varied components of this complex transaction do not end there. Walton will shell out $12 million to take on a minority interest in a CTF hotel. Additionally, both Walton and Sunstone committed to spending an aggregate sum of $68 million to renovate their total 13 properties, and to arrange new long-term management deals with Marriott.

"Our new owner partners and Marriott International," says Marriott chairman and CEO JW Marriott Jr., "are fully aligned on the brand's direction." The transactions are on schedule to close by June 30 of this year.