London & Edinburgh Inns has expanded its hotel portfolio by a fifth to 31 hotels with £25m of acquisitions.
The group, which trades as Swallow Hotels, has bought the four-star, 35-bedroom Coulsdon Manor hotel near Croydon, Surrey; the three-star, 60-bedroom Lansdowne Grove hotel in Bath; and the four-star, 48-bedroom Crabwall Manor hotel in Chester from regional group Marston Hotels for around £20m.
The entire 15-strong chain of Marston Hotels had been on the market, but was withdrawn when offers fell short of the £175m asking price.
Marston appointed Christie & Co to sell the properties in September last year after the collapse of an unsolicited £150m offer for the group from newly formed company Dawnay Shore Hotels.
Swallow has bought a further two properties from Corus Hotels for around £5m. It has bought the 47-bedroom Falstaff hotel in Canterbury and the 52-bedroom Larkfield Priory hotel in Maidstone.
References: EGi News 03/05/05
