Aprirose Expands and Teams up with Kew Green Hotels for New Operating Platform
Main Photo: De Vere Theobalds Estate Hotel
Date: February 2019
Location: UK wide
Name: Aprirose owns 25 hotel assets operating under a number of brands belonging to Hilton, Marriott and AccorHotels, as well as its own Q Hotels brand.
No. of Keys: De Vere Theobalds – 140
Seller: De Vere Hotels, owned by Starwood Capital in December 2018.
Buyer: Aprirose has acquired the De Vere Theobalds Estate hotel for £24.2m from De Vere Hotels, owned by Starwood Capital.
The American private investment firm is looking to sell off its De Vere properties following its sale of its Principal portfolio to French investor Covivio last year.
The Grade II-listed property in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire was built in 1763 before becoming a hotel in the 1990s.
Manish Gudka, chief executive of Aprirose, said: “Our hotel business continues to go from strength to strength. We’re continually looking for assets that we believe will flourish in our portfolio. Under the leadership of our hotel team we are developing market leading hotels in this thriving sector.”
The real estate investment company also owns the 26-strong QHotels portfolio of hotels, which it acquired for £525m last year, and the 275-bedroom Mercure Bristol Holland House Hotel & Spa.
Real estate investment company Aprirose has acquired 22 Marston’s-branded pubs from property investor New River for £15m, in January 2019.
The portfolio has pubs located across the UK, 15 of which will be leased back to Marston’s. The acquisition will bring the total number of pubs in Aprirose’s portfolio to 94.
The acquisition follows Aprirose’s acquisition of Milton Pubs and Taverns in the summer of 2017 and the Wear Inns portfolio in August 2018, as the company continues to expand its food and beverage business.
Manish Gudka, chief executive of Aprirose, said: “Our investment in the Marston’s portfolio highlights our commitment to this sector and follows our move into a more hands-on-approach to the management since the acquisition of the two portfolios in the last 18 months.
“The expansion into this sector reflects our wider strategy of growing our food and beverage business as part of our diverse real estate portfolio. These well-located assets are a strong investment for our clients, as we continue to increase our presence across the UK in line with our future vision for the company.”
In February 2019, Aprirose has launched its own hotel operating platform.
The new platform will initially be operated in conjunction with Kew Green Hotels, which will provide systems and back-office support while the new service is established.
Five QHotels were rebranded to Doubletree by Hilton hotels last year, while a further two properties will be rebadged as Delta by Marriott hotels due in early 2019.
Tim Shearman, chief executive of Aprirose Hotels, said: “The creation of our own hotel operating platform is an exciting new development in the growth and evolution of our hotel portfolio as we have further expansion plans nationally and internationally. It demonstrates our long-term commitment to the sector and will allow us to recruit industry leading talent and drive value for our clients.
“By initially working with the experienced Kew Green Hotels team it will allow us to hit the ground running and offer a seamless and best-in-class service to our customers.”
Price: £24.2m (for Theobalds)
Price per Key: £172,857
THPT Comment: Aprirose are making good use of Tim Sherman’s extensive operational experience, who they bought in as CEO in 2018. Interesting move into Pubs at this time.
First Seen: The Caterer
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