Troubled Patriot sells Arcadian as Breare moves on
PATRIOT American Hospitality, the troubled US real estate investment trust, has hoisted an £80m "for sale" sign outside the 11 UK hotels in the Arcadian chain.
Patriot bought Arcadian for £92m in January 1998, with plans to expand the chain. But following a collapse in the US firm's share price last year, speculation intensified that it planned to sell Arcadian.
Robert Breare, founder and chief executive, is understood to have been planning a management buyout of Arcadian's historic properties, but this has now fallen through.
Breare has decided to leave the company on 9 July. He is joining Ushers of Trowbridge, a brewery with more than 800 pubs.
The hotels for sale comprise 10 in England and one in Jersey, with around 600 rooms in total. They are expected to fetch between £80m and £90m, with Christie & Co appointed as the selling agent.
Following a recent restructure, Patriot's hotels are now operated by Wyndham International, whose shares trade in tandem with those of the real estate investment trust.
Wyndham says it now plans to focus on the 226-bedroom Great Eastern Hotel in the City, a joint venture with Conran Holdings, and on the Malmaison group of boutique hotels.
But Wyndham is likely to seek an investment partner to take a 30-40% stake in Malmaison to help it expand.
Apart from Breare, Arcadian's senior management team will remain, headed by Roy Tutty. But its London office has closed with the loss of around 20 jobs, and more redundancies are expected at the head office in Redhill, Surrey.
Wyndham has also offloaded its 80-strong Grand Heritage Hotels marketing consortium, handing it over to development director Timothy Hadcock-Mackay and finance director David Owen.
by David Shrimpton
