London-Focused Z Hotels Offers Test of Industry Recovery With £440m Sale
Location: 14 Hotels Mainly London, With Bath, Glasgow and Liverpool
Name: Z Hotels
Guide Price: £440m
No. of Keys: 1,667
The Opportunity:
Z Hotels has hired Knight Frank and Avison Young to find a buyer for a portfolio of sites in Covent Garden, Soho and Victoria in a test of the sector’s post-pandemic prospects, according to Sky News.
The timing of the sale means it will inevitably be seen as offering a glimpse into investors’ attitudes toward the sector amid booming demand for staycations but continuing uncertainty about the recovery of the central London economy.
The process is said to be opportunistic – rather than distressed – following a number of unsolicited approaches for the business. Z Hotels’ founders include Bev King, who launched the business alongside a number of former Thistle Hotels executives. The founders are said to own roughly 80% of the shares.
Main Picture: The “compact” size room at a Z hotel
Current Owner: The management team at Z Hotels
Flag & Management: Upto the new owner
Financials: Healthy EBITDA and net worth in 2019…a chain poised to benefit from the staycation market returning first
Tenure: A mix of freeholds (5), leaseholds (6) and management agreements (3)
Agent: Knight Frank and Avison Young
Guide Price: £440m
Guide Price per key: Around £264k
Date Posted: October 2021
THPT Comment: When Bev and his colleagues started Z hotels, in 2010 they set some ground rules…make it stylish, truly do away with superfluous frills – like large room sizes…by being well-located Bev worked out guests are going to be out and about London and would favour cheaper prices over a large room size that they wouldn’t be using much – but make the beds comfortable and the showers work. Do London hotel guests need restaurants? – instead give them free a cheese and wine reception at the happy hour..rules that have put Z hotels in good stead.
Hotel & Serviced Apartment owners can be naturally reticent in publicising their property is for sale…for confidentiality reasons, for staff and current client reasons, so the properties featured in this section will either be “generic” or “name specific”
Each week we mail the opportunities posted in that period, but check-out the tab “Hotels Available” and call us for details of “Under the Table” – deals not posted on the site at all.
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MISREPRESENTATION ACT 1967. This information is provided as a general guide and is not intended to be constructed as a statement of fact upon which interested parties can rely. All interested parties should make their enquiries by inspection or otherwise. Neither The Hotel Property Team (trading name of Impetus Marketing 2006 Ltd) nor any person in our employment has the authority to make, give or imply any representation or warranty whatsoever relating to the premises referred to in these particulars. These details do not constitute any offer, contract or any part thereof and all negotiations relating to the premises should be conducted through THPT.
