Part holding company, part fintech platform. Built for the great ownership transfer.
Why Now
The largest ownership transfer in history.
The US's Backbone
The Silver Tsunami
The Hotel Opportunity
Sources: McKinsey, The Great Ownership Transfer · SBA Office of Advocacy, 2026 · IBISWorld, Hotels & Motels in the US, 2026 · AAHOA Member & Industry Statistics
Retiring owners have no buyer.
Employees lose jobs. Buyers can't find clean deals.
Retiring Owners
Most owners have no succession plan, no qualified buyer lined up, and no clear path to an exit that honors what they built.
Existing Employees
When the owner walks away and no one steps in, employees lose their jobs and the community loses a business that anchored it.
Buyers
The few buyers who are out there can't find clean deals. Financials are a mess, operations are fragile, and there's no operator ready to take the wheel.
Sources: Exit Planning Institute, 2023 · McKinsey, The Great Ownership Transfer · Torch Customer Discovery, 2026
How it works.
Three moves. One mission.
01
Buy the business.
We identify East Coast hotel and motel properties between $500K and $5M in EBITDA, line up top brokers and lenders for the best terms, and close the deal. We structure every acquisition to sell equity back to employees over time.
Source off-market deals through our AAHOA & broker network
SBA 7(a) & conventional financing lined up in advance
Equity buyback program for existing employees
02
Hire a new owner.
Great businesses need great operators. We recruit from top ETA programs and fill in missing roles with in-house specialists — so there is always a capable, committed owner running the property from day one.
Recruited from MBA and ETA programs at top universities
Backed by Torch's in-house operations, finance, and tech teams
Skin in the game: operators earn equity alongside employees
03
Modernize it.
Legacy systems, bloated vendor contracts, and manual processes are costing hotel owners margin. We replace them. Every Torch property gets our proprietary AI tools and software stack — cutting OPEX and raising revenue.
Replace outdated PMS, POS, and vendor relationships
Torch AI tools for dynamic pricing, reviews, and operations
Centralized back-office across the portfolio
Narrow target. Sharper execution.
We share the model with competitors. We don't share the niche.
01
Specialization
We limit our focus to East Coast hotel and motel platform companies between $500K and $5M in EBITDA/SDE. Narrow target, sharper execution.
02
Top Talent
We recruit operators from top-tier ETA programs and fill in every missing role with in-house specialists. Great businesses need great owners.
03
Exclusive Platform
Access to our preferred lender and broker network, an exclusive community of portfolio owners, and bespoke AI and software tools built for hospitality.
04
Employee Ownership
We sell equity back to the people who built the business. Employees earn ownership stakes over time — aligning incentives and preserving the culture.
Built to grow together.
Three revenue streams. One aligned model.
01
Platform Fees
Claim a percentage of revenue from each portfolio company
Subsidized access to internal tech, software, and shared services
Grows as the portfolio scales — recurring and compounding
02
Profit Share
Annual dividends from operating cash flow across the portfolio
Profit funds the employee buyback program over time
Aligns Torch, operators, and employees around the same outcome
03
Capital Appreciation
Sell mature portfolio companies to PE once the business has been grown
Cash out at a significantly higher valuation than entry price
Repeat the cycle: acquire, improve, exit, redeploy
Personal mission. Professional firepower.
We've lived this. We're building what we wished existed.
From the Torch journal.
Field notes from the great ownership transfer.
ESSAY
Why 92% of hotel exits end in closure — and what to do about it.
Most owners wait too long. By the time they're ready to sell, there's no buyer, no plan, and no time to fix it. Here's how to get ahead of it.
Read →GUIDE
What is your hotel really worth? A guide for owners thinking about their next chapter.
Valuation is more than a multiple of EBITDA. It's about timing, operations, and the story a buyer sees when they look at your books.
Read →ESSAY
Employee ownership in hospitality: why we built the buyback program.
The people who keep a hotel running are its most valuable asset. We designed Torch's equity model to reflect that.
Read →Pass the torch.
Are you a hotel owner thinking about your next chapter? We'd love to hear your story.