| Pascal Promoted At HVS Hodges Ward Elliott |
| Pascal Bichon has been promoted to the position of Associate Director at HVS Hodges Ward Elliott. He joined the London office of HVS International in 2001, and worked as part of the valuation and advisory team before transferring to the company’s brokerage and investment services division in 2003. |
| Permira Preparing For Travelodge Sale | Return to Headlines |
| The Sunday Times reports that Permira is paving the way for either a sale or the flotation of Travelodge. The newspaper noted that the private equity firm would soon be choosing a party to advise it in the matter. If Permira were to follow the path marked ‘sale’ then its wish would be to find at the end of it a buyer sitting on a crock containing around £1 billion. Permira completed its purchase of Travelodge, which is the second-biggest budget hotel chain in the UK, in January 2003. The £712 million deal with Compass Group included the Little Chef restaurant chain. | |
| Delancey Forms Hillwood Resorts And Hotels | Return to Headlines |
| Delancey wants to establish through acquisition a collection of four-star and five-star hotels in the UK. The property company began the process last week when it paid De Vere Group £15.55 million for the 118-room De Vere Grand in St Helier, on the island of Jersey. All hotels acquired – and to be considered a candidate hotel must have at least 70 rooms – will be part of a newly established venture called Hillwood Resorts and Hotels. Hillwood will have as its joint managing directors two former directors at Hand Picked Hotels: Gregor Ritchie and Arvinder Walia. | |
| Another Slice Of Mandarin | Return to Headlines |
| Investment firm Reig Capital Group is at work in the Spanish city of Barcelona on what will be a first hotel in Spain for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. The finished product – the Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona – will be a luxury property of 144 rooms. The hotel, a fifth in Europe for Mandarin Oriental, is set to open in late 2007. | |
| Shearings Cuts A Sale And Leaseback Deal | Return to Headlines |
| WA Shearings, which is one of the UK’s leading holiday companies, has struck a sale and leaseback deal involving 39 of its hotels in the UK. Moorfield Real Estate Fund, part of the Moorfield Group, paid £110 million for the portfolio. The new owner is said to be keen to invest in the further expansion of the portfolio, which will have a reported £25 million spent on it over the next five years. | |
| Yes, Rezidor Can Take Over In Dubai | Return to Headlines |
| The view over Dubai Creek from the hotel’s windows will stay the same; all that will change is the name above the hotel’s front door. The hotel is the 287-room InterContinental Dubai. After more than 30 years at the helm InterContinental Hotels Group will on 1 October hand over the keys to Rezidor SAS Hospitality, which will subsequently manage the hotel under the Radisson SAS brand. Rezidor intends to treat the property to an extensive programme of renovation. | |
| Heartmend Hotel | Return to Headlines |
| The InterContinental brand has found a new place to dwell: the town of Krems, in northeast Austria. The journey will be no walk down lonely street, though, as the brand will have for company the Austrian Heart Centre, which is owned, as indeed the five-star InterContinental Resort & Spa will be, by IMC Beteiligungs. The 119-room hotel, which will open along with the 120-room clinic in autumn 2008, is the first property in Europe that InterContinental Hotels Group has developed as part of a healthcare complex. | |
| Bath: Time For A New Hotel | Return to Headlines |
| The Thermae Bath Spa, which is nearing completion in the city of Bath, in southwest England, could be complemented by a 97-room spa hotel. If developer Trevor Osborne succeeds in gaining planning permission, then he will start work later this year on redeveloping the Grade II listed Gainsborough Building into a five-star hotel that will reportedly be operated by Hungarian chain Danubius Hotels. | |
| Tower With A Hotel Topping | Return to Headlines |
| Canit Hashalom Investments is watching its Azrieli Square Tower rise in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. The upper 13 floors of the 31-storey building will be devoted to a 270-room hotel, on which Africa Israel Investments, through its subsidiary Jordan Hotels, is reported to have taken a 12-year lease. Africa Israel Investments holds the franchise rights in Israel to the Crowne Plaza brand, making this brand, say reports, one of those more likely to see its flag outside. | |
| Best Western Set For A Third Lithuanian Hotel | Return to Headlines |
| Naujasis Vilnius is the owner of both of Best Western International’s hotels in Lithuania: the Naujasis Vilnius, in the capital Vilnius, and the Santakos Viešbutis, in the city of Kaunas. The company, a subsidiary of hotel, restaurant and pharmacy group Liuks, will be the owner of the country’s third Best Western hotel too, according to reports. They suggest that Naujasis Vilnius will be investing some €5.8 million in a hotel that will be opening this autumn in the southern resort of Druskininkai. Meanwhile, reports from neighbouring Russia say that the city authorities in Moscow want to sell their 30% stake, which is valued at a reported US$6.7 million, in the 116-room Hotel Budapest. | |
| A New Abode In Chester | Return to Headlines |
| The luxury hotel that is to form part of Liberty Properties’ HQ Chester mixed-use development will wear the Abode brand. The property, which will have some 80 rooms, will be the fourth Abode hotel in England. Hotelier Andrew Brownsword launched the chain last year in partnership with chef Michael Caines. The northwest of England has been the focus too of Britannia Hotels, which has bagged UK property number 31. The company has paid an undisclosed sum to Leisure Parcs for The Savoy Hotel in Blackpool. The 131-room hotel is Britannia’s third in the resort. | |
Absolute Share Price Performance Over the Past Week 23/03/06-30/03/06
InterContinental Hotels Group - UBS raised its rating from 'Neutral' to 'Buy'.
Whitbread - The share price slipped on rumours that Whitbread was leading the chase for the Next Generation health club chain.
NH Hoteles - Speculation that NH Hoteles had approached De Vere Group caused a fall in the share price late last week.
