Premier Inn owner Whitbread has announced plans to sell and lease back £1.5bn (€1.7bn) of its freehold properties as part of a new five-year plan and the relaunch of its flagship hotel brand.
The company said it aims to become a pure-play hotel business by 2031, with all 197 of its restaurant brands either repositioned within an integrated food-and-drink model or converted into a total of 8,000 additional rooms across the UK and Ireland.
The disposal programme will be used to fund future growth and reduce net capital expenditure, lowering Whitbread’s freehold ownership to 30%–40% and making it a majority leaseholder for the first time since the Premier Inn chain was founded in 1987.
During a presentation accompanying the company’s full-year 2025 results, CEO Dominic Paul said the plan would transform Whitbread into “a higher-margin, higher-return pure-play hotel business.”
A number of hotels were brought to market this week, including two in Manchester—a Covivio-owned asset and an aparthotel marketed by Knight Frank on behalf of Roomzzz.
In the financing section, Generali Real Estate provided a €330m refinancing for the Four Seasons Madrid at Centro Canalejas (pictured), in one of the largest single-asset financing deals completed in Spain.
“Completing this refinancing following our transition to sole ownership is an important step in aligning the capital structure with our strategic direction for the asset and its long-term positioning,” said Fabio Longo, CIO at Mohari Hospitality, the asset’s owner.
| Recently completed deals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Buyer | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Key facts |
| York Designer Outlet and East Midlands Designer Outlet | retail | UK | Frasers Group | Aviva Investors | 420,000sqft | £400 (€462) | The assets have an annual footfall of almost 7.8m visitors. |
| 14 St George Street | office | London | unnamed Singaporean investor | Oval Real Estate | 51,861sqft | £173 (€200) | The sale reflects a 3.4% net initial yield. |
| Cameron House | hotel | Glasgow | Victory Group | KSL Partners | 208 rooms | £100 (€116) | The hotel, on the southern edge of Scotland’s largest loch in size Loch Lomond, dates back to the 15th century. |
| 23 assets | retail | Nordics | Cibus | NA | 59,530m2 | €104 | The assets are occupied by Rema 1000 in Denmark and Norway, Tokmanni and Lidl in Finland as well as ICA in Sweden. |
| two vacant buildings | living | Milan | Investire Sgr and Partners Group | NA | 8,500m2 | €70 | The vacant properties will be redeveloped into residential buildings. |
| The Brix | office | Essen | NA | CLS Holdings plc | 21,750m2 | €60 | CLS acquired the property in April 2021 with a vacancy rate of 28%. |
| three assets | mixed | London | Howard de Walden | NA | 49,000sqft | £50 (€58) | The deals include the long leasehold of 85 Harley Street and 18 Wimpole Mews; 37 Wimpole Street and 13-15 Wimpole Mews and 64 Wimpole Street. |
| The Travelodge Barcelona Poblenou Hotel | hotel | Barcelona | M&G Real Estate | Travelodge U.K. | 250 rooms | €50 | It is the fund’s first hotel acquisition. |
| two logistics assets | logistics | Barcelona | Nuveen Real Estate | Meridia | 29,000m2 | €50 | The properties are located in Granollers y Barberà del Vallès. |
| Best Western Plus Paris Nation | hotel | Paris | Square Group | Eternam | 48 rooms | NA | The acquisition is part of a value-add strategy. |
| eight properties in northern Italy | logistics | Northern Italy | Kryalos Sgr, Ares Management Real Estate | Blackstone | 150,000m2 | NA | This transaction marks the first investment of the Canova Fund, a recently established real estate investment fund focusing on income-generating properties. |
| 32-36 Sveavägen | office | Stockholm | Mitsubishi Estate | Europa Capital | 7,000m2 | NA | IOFFICE, a Swedish co-working operator, occupies 88% of the total space. |
| Købmagergade 44A | mixed | Copenhagen | Urban Partners | Hines | 21,500m2 | NA | The asset consists of an upper-upscale hotel featuring 243 rooms alongside 3,100m2 of high-street retail and 1,000m2 of residential units. |
| Assets on the market | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Broker | Key facts |
| hotel assets | hotel | UK | Whitbread | NA | £1500 (€1735) | NA | The firm plans to sell the assets to fund future growth and increasingly focus on leaseholds. |
| 25 Cabot Square | office | London | Link Asset Management | 481,605sqft | £200 (€231) | NA | The Hong Kong investor is exploring the sale of its only asset in London, let to Morgan Stanley. |
| Kimpton Clocktower Hotel | hotel | Manchester | Covivio | 270 rooms | £70 (€81) | NA | The asset was acquired in 2018 as part of a portfolio deal with IHG Hotels & Resorts. |
| store portfolio | retail | UK, Republic of Ireland | The Range | 10 assets | £67 (€77) | CBRE | The Range will lease back the assets committing to a 15-year lease term with no break options and built in growth with 5 yearly CPI linked rent reviews (1-3%). |
| Sydmarken 5 | life sciences | Copenhagen | AEW | 32,755m2 | €65 | NA | The asset is fully let. |
| Alto Vetro building | living | Dublin | Kennedy Wilson | 24 apartments | €18 | Knight Frank | Kennedy Wilson paid €11m for the property in 2013. |
| aparthotel at 36 Princess Street | hotel | Manchester | Roomzzz | 59 units | £12 (€14) | Knight Frank | The freehold interest will be offered free of brand and management. |
| Recently completed loans | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lender(s) | Borrower(s) | Asset(s) | Loan Size (mln) | Key facts |
| Bond Investors | Argan | Unsecured | €500 | The green bond bears a coupon of 3,779%. |
| Generali Real Estate | Mohari Hospitality | The Four Seasons Madrid at Centro Canalejas | €330 | Mohari has just taken full control of the asset. |
| Bond investors | Catena | Unsecured | €300 | The proceeds will be used to repay debt |
| Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, Societe Generale | EQT Real Estate | logistics portfolio in Czech Republic and Poland | €214 | The fully-let portfolio comprises 370,000m2 of modern, high-quality logistics and warehouse space. |
| ICG Real Estate | Arada | 100 Avenue Road in London | £152 (€175) | The latest development financing represents the third transaction between ICG’s real estate credit business and Arada London. |
| BNP Paribas Bank Polska and Bank Pekao | Mennica Polska | Mennica Towers | €160 | The complex, completed in 2020, comprises nearly 70,000m2 of office space and is fully leased. |
| Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG | Valor | Paris and Lyon portfolios | €148 | The operation consists of a €113m facility secured on behalf of Valor’s JV with QuadReal, as well as a €35m loan completed on behalf of Valor’s JV with RSF Partners. |
| Eldridge | Lika | three resi projects in Switzerland | €123 | These loans mark Eldridge’s entrance into the Swiss market. |
| pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank | Kryalos Sgr, Ares Management Real Estate | eight properties in northern Italy | €87 | The loan will finance the purchase of the portfolio. |
| BCC | Partners Group | two vacant buildings in Milan | €48 | The vacant properties will be redeveloped into residential buildings. |
| Banca MPS | Falkensteiner Michaeler Tourism Group AG | Resort Capo Boi in Sardinia | €40 | The loan finances the acquisition of the resort, already managed by the German group. |
| BGO | Prescient Capital | 31 Wellington Street, Leeds | £27 (€31) | The loan will support delivery of the scheme. |
| New mandates/JVs and funds on the market | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Firm | Fund/mandate/JV | Strategy | Details |
| EQT Real Estate | EQT Real Estate Europe Logistics Value Fund V | Acquiring and developing modern logistics assets across Europe | The fund has secured €3.1bn, surpassing its €2.5bn target. |
