Deadline for Von Essen hotel bids few days away
Prospective buyers for any of the Von Essen portfolio of hotels have just a few days left to register their initial bids.
Christie & Co, which is marketing the 26 hotels in the UK, one in France and a development opportunity on a Welsh island, said that offers need to be registered by Tuesday 12 July.
The property agent, which is acting on behalf of administrators Ernst & Young, has now received inquiries from interested parties "well in excess" of the 200 inquiries it confirmed four weeks ago.
Bids for the groups as a whole, for a price in excess of £200m, are being invited as well as offers for the individual properties. The most expensive are Cliveden in Taplow, Berkshire, at £35m and the Royal Crescent in Bath at £22.5m.
Christie & Co will not reveal any of the prospective bidders, but hotel groups and wealthy individuals who could be in the frame include Hand Picked Hotels, Orient-Express Hotels and Andrew Brownsword, owner of Gidleigh Park and the Bath Priory hotels.
The most unusual part of the Von Essen portfolio is Thorn Island Fort, a Grade II-listed Napoleonic fort situated on an island off the Pembrokeshire coast. Andrew Davis, the former owner of Von Essen, had intended to turn it into a luxury hotel.
The two-acre site is being sold, with two deep-water moorings, as a development opportunity, for £750,000.
Von Essen went into administration in April, with debts of more than £250m, after defaulting on its loans.
Von Essen woes highlight struggle of regional hotels >>
Von Essen hotels ion the market >>
Cliveden tops the price tag on Von Essen hotels >>
By Janet Harmer
E-mail your comments to Janet Harmer here.
If you have something to say on this story or anything else join the debate at Table Talk - Caterer's new networking forum. Go to www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk
Caterersearch.com jobs
Looking for a new job? Find your next job here with Caterersearch.com jobs
|