Property investment consultancy firm Chiltern Mondiale has bought the 11-strong chain of Marriott by Courtyard hotels from Whitbread for £79m.
As well as being Chiltern Mondiale’s biggest purchase in terms of the number of properties and price, it is also the group’s first syndicated deal, with a group of 12 private investors brought together to make the purchase.
Managing director Mike Anderson said: “This is the largest deal we have done in terms of size, and the biggest one we’ve done in terms of investors involved.
“We’ve had syndicates of about three investors, but never on this scale. We now plan to do more syndicated deals of this type.”
Anderson said Chiltern Mondiale had decided to buy properties for larger groups of investors because it enabled it to be a more competitive force.
The investment market for smaller lots was fiercely competitive with scores of investors vying for the same properties, he said, whereas competition in the larger investment market was less.
Chiltern Mondiale has historically bought and sold single hotel assets, such as the Radisson SAS in Manchester, which it sold for £50m to DIFA earlier this year, and the Crowne Plaza in Edinburgh, which it bought for a private investor for about £30m last year.
Following its purchase from Whitbread, which is expected to complete on 9 December, the hotels will be leased to Kew Green Hotels and will be run under the Courtyard by Marriott name through a franchise agreement with Marriott International.
Whitbread, which was advised by CBRE Hotels, put the chain up for sale in May.
