Sale and franchise-back of seven Accor hotels for £27m
French hotel group Accor has announced that it is selling and franchising-back seven hotels for €38m (£27m) as part of its strategy to structure the assets of its ownership division HotelInvest.
A portfolio of five Ibis hotels (Birmingham Bordesley Circus, Leicester City, London Gatwick Airport, Plymouth and Sheffield City) have been acquired by Starboard Hotels, while a joint venture between Cannock Investments and Hetherley Capital Partners has bought the Ibis Coventry Centre and the Ibis Dublin West in Ireland.
The six UK hotels were acquired by Accor in December 2015 as part of the acquisition of the Tritax portfolio of 13 hotels for £70.2m.
The new owners have agreed to carry out €5.2m (£3.6m) worth of renovations across the properties.
Starboard - which already owns the Best Western Carlton Hotel Blackpool, Days Inn Wetherby, Holiday Inn Express Greenock, Holiday Inn Express Burnley and Smart City Hostel Edinburgh - will continue to operate the five hotels it has acquired from Accor for a further 20 years under a franchise agreement.
Paul Callingham, managing director of Starboard Hotels, said "These five hotels provide us with a great opportunity to double the size of our portfolio and take on a group of established properties that have excellent trading records and great people. With our operating and development experience we will build on this to take the hotels to the next level."
He added that Starboard is looking to acquire more trading hotels in the UK.
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Accor reports half-year profit increase and acquires hotel portfolio >>
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