De Vere sells two hotels to fund growth of Village and Venues brands
The De Vere Group is selling two hotels to Britannia Hotels for around £20m. It has exchanged contracts on the five-star, 140-bedroom Royal Bath in Bournemouth (pictured) and the 192-bedroom De Vere Daresbury Park in Warrington.
De Vere is also negotiating the sale of two further hotels (the 173-bedroom Grand Harbour, Southampton, and the 119-bedroom University Arms, Cambridge) following a strategic review of the group, which last year achieved an annual turnover of £360m.
The sale of the properties will help fund the expansion of the De Vere Village brand, which is planning to add up to 18 hotels to the current portfolio of 25 hotels over the next five years, as well as the growth of the De Vere Venues brand, which operates 28 conference and training centres. The cash injection will also provide capital investment in some of the nine luxury properties which make up the De Vere Hotels brand.
De Vere Group's chief executive, Andrew Coppel, said he was pleased to have successfully sold the hotels in Bournemouth and Warrington. "The proceeds from our disposal programme will go towards funding a range of exciting development opportunities across the group, building a better De Vere and generating increased value for our stakeholders."
Britannia Hotels, which now owns 41 hotels across the UK, is currently on a buying spree, having acquired two hotels in Scarborough - the Royal and the Clifton, and the Ramada Hotel Leeds North earlier this year.
De Vere to sell five properties ahead of Village Hotels expansion >>
Britannia scoops up two Scarborough hotels out of administration >>
By Janet Harmer
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