Lone Star has put a portfolio of 42 UK city centre hotels up for sale for more than £1bn.
The American private equity firm has appointed Eastdil and Credit Suisse to sell the portfolio, which includes 36 Jurys Inns and six Hilton branded assets.
The hotels form part of Lone Star’s management platform Amaris Hospitality.
The group originally acquired the Jurys Inn hotels in 2015 for £680m from a club of owners including Royal Bank of Scotland, the Oman Investment Fund and Mount Kellett which had taken control of the company through a debt restructuring. Since then Lone Star has sold some, rebranded others, and completed a £100m investment programme.
An IPO had initially been considered for the disposal of the portfolio but the relatively weak listed sector meant that a trade sale was considered a better option.
A successful sale would represent a near exit from the UK hotels market for Lone Star which aggressively expanded into the sector following the financial crisis, often through the acquisition of distressed debt. Last year it sold a portfolio of 46 Holiday Inn Express hotels to London & Regional for £575m,
It is also in the process of selling eight individual Mercure hotels, which are also operated by Amaris. This week it exchanged on the sale of the Mercure Bristol for £45m to Aprirose.
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