Aer Lingus considers bid for Tara

AER Lingus is considering an offer for the 825-bedroom Copthorne Tara in London after failing to attract high enough bids for the Copthorne group as a whole.

City sources this week suggested the airline had already rejected the majority of the bids it had received, but was still appraising an offer from a Middle Eastern company for the Tara alone.

In the current market the Tara could be worth at least £70m-£80m, equivalent to £85,000-£100,000 a bedroom.

The Copthorne group's 15 hotels, plus two unbranded hotels in the Gambia and Tenerife, are in Aer Lingus's books at well over £200m. However, in the present market offers are unlikely to have been much over £140m.

High on the list of unlucky bidders was Stakis, which is said to have been ready to raise money through a rights issue to help finance the deal.

Another was Forte, which is understood to have made a token offer for some of Copthorne's provincial properties in order to bolster its Crest chain.

It is likely Aer Lingus will wait for a substantial upturn in the property market before making further attempts to sell the Copthorne group.