Insignia, the US parent of Richard Ellis UK, has acquired Hotel Partners, a global consultancy based in Atlanta, US.
The deal means that Hotel Partners will combine its European operation with Richard Ellis’s hotel division at Berkeley Square House in London.
Although no price has been disclosed, it is understood that the Hotel Partners deal is Insignia’s third-largest corporate buy after its £50m Richard Ellis deal.
Paul Jones, head of Hotel Partners’ international division, explained that the company aims to buy up London hotel businesses at a time when US funds are training their eyes increasingly on this sector.
Jones said: “No-one sells more hotels in the US than we do and, at a time when American companies are expanding into Europe, this is ideal for us.
“All the major players know us. There is a desire for hotel companies to go global and that is the direction we’re heading”
Hotel Partners will have access to Insignia’s considerable institutional backing, Jones said. Last year, Hotel Partners was responsible for selling 115 hotel, motel and resort properties worth over $1bn.
Having tied up this deal in the US, Insignia has announced that it plans to do more corporate deals in Europe.
Richard Ellis director Stephen Hubbard said that a string of corporate acquisitions of “regional businesses in primary European markets” will be announced some time during the year.
