PREM Group buys two Belgian hotels for £21m

International hotel chain, PREM Group, has doubled its Belgian hotel network to four and plans to increase it to 10 by the end of the year. It has just paid more than £21m (€32m) for The Bedford Hotel, Liège and The Corinthia Hotel, Antwerp. These two acquisitions form part of the group’s £70m European expansion programme launched last November when it acquired two hotels in Antwerp – The Golden Tulip Hotel and The Tulip Inn Antwerp – at a cost of (£10.9m) €16 m. The group plans to invest a further (£34m) €50m in Belgium over the next six months with negotiations on a number of leading hotels currently ongoing. It is also researching opportunities in other major European cities including Berlin, Hamburg and Amsterdam. Backed by Irish property developer Paddy Kelly, PREM Group also operates 12 hotels in Ireland, two in England, and two others in Northern Europe as well as more than 600 serviced apartments across 12 locations in Ireland, Britain and Europe. In Belgian The Corinthia Hotel, Antwerp, is a 213-bedroom four-star hotel located in the heart of Antwerp’s business district. It will be rebranded under the Ramada Plaza brand. The Bedford Hotel, Liège is a 149-bedroom four-star hotel situated on the banks of the river La Meuse. A major international brand is currently being sought for the hotel. In Ireland PREM manages hotels including those in the Cendant and Days brands. PREM Group and Dublin-based investment firm, Claret Capital are joint investors in the Belgian property. Over the past 18 months Claret Capital has made investments totalling over €1bn including investments in Irish TV ands newspapers. Commenting on the acquisition Jim Murphy, managing director of PREM Group said: “These acquisitions further strengthen our foothold in Europe and allow us to continue to build up our property portfolio both at home and abroad. “The Northern European property market is experiencing a significant upturn making it an ideal time to invest.”