Sale of four former Pederson-owned hotels completes break-up of group

The sale of four hotels previously owned by the Pedersen portfolio of companies, which went into administration last year, completes the break-up of the five-strong four-star group.

The properties just offloaded include the 122-bedroom Crowne Plaza Reading, 95-bedroom Sheffield Park in Sheffield, 108-bedroom Regency Park hotel, Newbury, and 98-bedroom Winchester hotel, Winchester.

Last November, the 131-bedroom Novotel Bristol Centre was sold to clients of Invista Real Estate Investment Management for £14.5m. Operating on a 19-year lease by Accor under the Novotel brand, the operation of the hotel has been unaffected by the sale.

The Crowne Plaza Reading, which stands on the banks of the River Thames, is being bought by Redefine Hotels Reading (RHR) for £12.75m. RHR is a subsidiary of Redefine International Hotels, which acquired five Holiday Inn hotels in London for £106.3m in July 2010.

After opening in 1979, the hotel was extensively refurbished in 2005 when it was branded a Crowne Plaza hotel under a franchise agreement - due to run until 2025 - with Six Continents Hotels. RHR will enter into a new franchise agreement with Six Continents Hotels on similar terms to the existing agreement.

Sheffield Park has been acquired for £4m by private investor Hotbed, in partnership with hotel operator Longrose Buccleuch. The hotel is to be rebranded as a Hilton Doubletree by the end of July 2011. Hotbed is investing £2.5m equity in the hotel, with the remaining debt coming from Santander Bank.

Ed Henson, co-head of property at Hotbed, said: "Longrose Buccleuch's track record and the involvement of a brand with national and international pulling power will help ensure maximum profitability at a hotel that already had a solid business and functions trade and is well-positioned to benefit from Yorkshire's growing tourism."

The Winchester hotel has been bought by Quantum Hotels, a wholly owned subsidiary of the private family company, Carnarvon Hotels, while a wealthy overseas investor with an existing hotel portfolio in the UK has bought the Regency Park Hotel.

It is likely that both the Winchester and Regency Park will remain as private operations, without being branded.

All five hotels were marketed by CBRE Hotels after Pedersen was placed in administration by Grant Thornton in June 2010.

Paul Bartrop, director at CBRE Hotels, said: "The sale of these hotels clearly signifies the attraction of the UK hotel investment market to both domestic and overseas investors."

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By Janet Harmer

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