L&R fights Ronson for slice of Accor portfolio
Two Ibis, two Novotel hotels lined up for £80m sale-and-leaseback
London & Regional and Gerald Ronson are battling for the freeholds of four of Accor’s UK hotels.
The pair are vying for an Ibis in Leeds, a Novotel in Edinburgh, and two hotels in London’s Docklands — the budget Ibis London ExCeL and four-star Novotel London ExCeL — in an £80m, 25-year sale-and-leaseback.
Two Ibis, two Novotel hotels lined up for £80m sale-and-leaseback
London & Regional and Gerald Ronson are battling for the freeholds of four of Accor’s UK hotels.
The pair are vying for an Ibis in Leeds, a Novotel in Edinburgh, and two hotels in London’s Docklands — the budget Ibis London ExCeL and four-star Novotel London ExCeL — in an £80m, 25-year sale-and-leaseback.
Ronson is bidding through the £250m HerAx fund launched by Heron Corporation and Axa Sun Life in January.
Phillipe Baretaud, UK development director of the French hotel group, said: “We are in advanced talks and will probably make an announcement soon. But we are still exploring two or three possible solutions.”
Accor will reinvest the cash into its development budget, enabling it to expand without affecting its gearing.
L&R cites itself as Accor’s preferred property partner, but newcomer HerAx has already become close to Accor.
L&R owns 20 Accor properties worth more than £100m in the UK, while, less than a year into its life, HerAx owns three, worth £40m.
L&R and HerAx were both unavailable to comment.
● Venture capitalist Permira’s sale of 135 of its Travelodge budget hotels to property entrepreneur Nick Leslau and venture capitalist West Coast Capital for about £400m was due to conclude as EG went to press. CBRE was appointed to find a property partner for Permira in the summer. It will lease the hotels back on 25- and 35-year leases.
Properties checked out
The two-star, 278-bedroom Ibis London ExCeL in Docklands was opened by Accor in January. The four-star Novotel London ExCeL followed a month later, with 257 bedrooms. The other two properties available are the 168-bedroom Ibis in Leeds and 180-bedroom Novotel in Edinburgh. Accor has more than 4,000 hotels in 140 countries, including more than 80 in the UK.
