Wells Fargo Corporate Banking, part of Wells Fargo & Company, has formed the Hotel Franchise Finance division to provide real estate financing to multi-unit owners and operators of franchised hotels in the select-service and extended-stay segments. Leading this new division is Scott Andrews, a 17-year banking veteran of the hotel financing industry. Andrews, based in Scottsdale, AZ, will report to Nick Cole, head of the Restaurant Finance and Gaming division in Wells Fargo Corporate Banking.

“With the launch of this newly-formed Hotel Franchise Finance division, and under the leadership of Scott, we look to build a best-in-class middle market hospitality lending division that meets the growing financial needs of hotel owners and operators nationwide,” said Cole. “This team will complement our already existing and highly successful Hospitality Finance Group within Wells Fargo Commercial Real Estate to provide financial solutions to serve the broader hotel industry.”

The Hotel Franchise Finance division provides middle market hotel owners and operators comprehensive financial solutions, such as fixed- and floating-rate real estate secured term loans, treasury management, interest rate risk management, insurance, private banking, capital markets and advisory services, and payroll services.

Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Andrews ran the middle market Hotel Franchise Finance divisions at GE Capital Franchise Finance and its successor bank. He holds a bachelor of science in Business Administration as well as a master’s degree in Business Administration from East Carolina University