Travelodge has bought two north London hotels from Thistle and carried out a simultaneous sale-and-leaseback with private property company Kirkmore Securities.
Kirkmore Securities paid £55.5m for the freehold of the Thistle Islington and the London Ryan, both based on King’s Cross Road, WC1.
Permira-owned Travelodge has taken a 35-year lease on each hotel, providing Kirkmore with a yield of around 6%. The new hotels will be rebranded Travelodge Islington and Travelodge Farringdon.
The deal, which is separate from the £700m portfolio of Thistle hotels that entrepreneur Andy Ruhan bought last year, follows Travelodge’s acquisition of the Drury Lane Moat House in WC2, for £11m.
The two hotels will join others nearby in the chain: one at Gray’s Inn Road, WC1, and one near Liverpool Street Station, E1.
Strutt & Parker represented Travelodge. GraceMark Investment acted for Kirkmore. Christie & Co advised Thistle.
References: EGi News 21/06/04
