Starwood Hotels & Resorts has agreed to sell its spa company, Bliss World Holdings, to Steiner Leisure for $100 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close on or before Dec. 31.
Bliss World Holdings operates Bliss and Remede spas at W and St. Regis hotels, respectively.
In the hotel space, Bliss and Remede spas and amenities will remain exclusive to W and St. Regis.
"This sale is illustrative of our long-term strategy to focus purely on our growing and increasingly global hospitality business," said Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen. "At the same time, we are delighted that we will continue our business relationship with Bliss."
In addition to the W and St. Regis spas, Bliss operates an e-commerce and catalog business and distributes products through Bloomingdale's, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Sephora.
Bahamas-based Steiner Leisure offers spa services at 51 hotels and on 126 cruise ships. The public company has reported net income of $27.1 million through the first nine months of 2009.