Hotels back on investors’ lists as transactions reach six-year high
HOTELS are back in vogue with investors, according to research out yesterday by Deloitte, which shows that hotel deals in 2013 were at their highest in six years.
UK hotel transactions totalled around £800m in the second half of 2013, up 66 per cent on the same period last year and taking deals for the year to £3bn.
London accounted for two thirds of all transactions, including the £88m sale of Millennium Bridge House by US private equity group Carlyle to Shiva hotels.
Deloitte’s head of hospitality, Nick van Marken, said: “The spotlight has returned to hotels as an investment class, underpinned by a clear market recovery and improved macro-economics.”
The first six months of the year were dominated by portfolio deals, such as the sale of the hotel chain Principal Hayley to US investment firm Starwood Capital. The second half was led by the sale of single assets such as the 12 Menzies hotels, which were snapped up by property firm Topland.
The imminent sale of De Vere’s conference venues is expected to kick off further activity this year.
“Sovereign wealth funds, specialised investment groups and private equity will remain the dominant buyers in 2014, and we expect the continued influx of foreign capital,” Van Marken added.