Travelodge raises £128m through sale and leaseback - For more hospitality stories, see what the weekend papers say

Travelodge raises £128m through sale and leaseback
Travelodge has raised £128m through a sale and leaseback of 17 of its hotels. The company, which operates 314 hotels is selling the underlying property assets to Prestbury, the property investment vehicle controlled by Nick Leslau. It will lease back the hotels for periods of between 25 years and 35 years. – The Times, 28 April.

Chance for private investors in UK’s first REIT
Private investors will be able to buy shares in the Vector Hospitality real estate investment trust (REIT), benefiting from a diversified portfolio of over £2.5b of top hotels, including selected properties from De Vere, Malmaison and Hilton. – The Scotsman, 28 April.

West Country hotel sold for £6m
Von Essen Hotels, the private company owned by Andrew Davis, has acquired Hunstrete House, the country house hotel near Bath, for almost £6m. The hotel becomes Von Essen’s 24th property, although it is known to be eyeing several further acquisitions, including the Port Palace Hotel in Monaco. – The Times, 28 April.

Punch to join FTSE 100 this week
Punch Taverns is set to celebrate its promotion to the FTSE 100 share list on Tuesday when chief executive Giles Thorley rolls out another set of solid trading results despite the effects of the smoking ban. Followers claim that growing food sales and a 5% increase in underlying sales at its core chain of managed houses should see overall profits increase by around 10% to approaching £130m at the half-year stage. – The Herald, 29 April.

Big application for Coffee Republic shares
Coffee Republic said that it has received applications for 21.98 million shares, or 77.7% of the shares available, under its open offer. On 2 April, the company announced an open offer of up to 28.28 million shares at 2.5p each. – The Times, 28 April.

Swallow starting to fly again
After buying the rights to the brand name Swallow following the collapse of London and Edinburgh Swallow last September, Edinburgh hotelier Paddy Crerar now has the management rights to 26 of the Scottish and English properties formerly owned by London and Edinburgh after buying the right to the Swallow brand name for what is understood to be just a five-figure sum. – The Herald, 29 April.

Celebrity property fund sees pubs as star asset
The celebrity property fund backed by Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, and Simon Cowell, the music impresario, is set to make its debut in the pubs sector – snapping up an £80m portfolio from pub and brewery group Marston’s. The deal will serve as a foundation for an empire of more than 1,500 pubs, worth about £500m, to be built up over the next few years. – Sunday Times, 29 April.

By Bob Gledhill

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