RBS prevents the closure of five UK hotels

RBS Real Estate Asset Management said it has prevented the immediate closure of five hotels in East Anglia in the UK, after the tenant filed for administration late last month.

As the freeholder of all five properties, RBS worked to negotiate the acquisition of the tenant's fixtures and fittings from the administrator and the surrender of the leases.

Having achieved this, RBS was able to pass the management of all five hotels to Jupiter Hotels Management, a new hotel management company created by Jupiter Hotels, a 50-50 hotel investment joint venture between RBS and Patron Capital.

The portfolio comprises four three-star Quality Hotel branded properties located in Bury St Edmunds, Colchester, Peterborough and Kings Lynn, as well as the four-star 76-bedroom Clarion Collection Hotel Cromwell in Stevenage.

'The creation of Jupiter Hotels Management is aligned with Jupiter Hotels’ strategy for growth and allows it to create value by utilising the expertise of its management team through the management of third party owned hotels,' the owners said in a statement. As a result of this new contract, Jupiter Hotels now has a portfolio of 3,177 rooms across 31 owned, leased and managed hotels around the UK.

This transaction follows Jupiter Hotels' £110 mln purchase of a portfolio of 26 Ramada branded Jarvis hotels from administration in September 2011.

'We have been able to increase Jupiter Hotels' exposure to midscale hotels as we look to return these businesses to profitability, and establish Jupiter as a market leader in this segment,' commented Helen Gordon, global head of RBS Real Estate Asset Management.