Privately-held group Topland has acquired eight Hallmark hotels in the UK from private equity firm Bridgepoint in an off-market deal worth £75 mln (€95 mln).

Privately-held group Topland has acquired eight Hallmark hotels in the UK from private equity firm Bridgepoint in an off-market deal worth £75 mln (€95 mln).

Hallmark, a group of eight four-star hotels offering a total of 730 rooms, was acquired in 2007 by Bridgepoint for £55 mln. Bridgepoint sold the assets to Topland after investing £16 mln to upgrade several hotels from three stars to four.

The transaction takes Topland's portfolio to 30 hotels and follows its acquisition of Menzies' 12-hotel portfolio out of administration in November 2013.

The eight four-star Hallmark hotels have 600 employees based in areas including Croydon, Carlisle, Hull and Manchester.

'Securing this off-market transaction further cements Topland’s ability to effect hotel portfolio transactions to complement and further develop our existing hotel business. Hallmark represented an excellent opportunity to acquire a profitable and highly rated national hotel group, with a strong record of delivering growth reflecting a textbook Topland approach, and supporting Topland’s aim to build a £1 bn hotel platform,' commented Topland's chief executive Sol Zakay.

Osborne Clarke and Baker Tilly advised Topland.