UK's largest hospitality group Whitbread has announced the acquisition of a portfolio of 19 hotels in Germany as part of plans to accelerate its international strategy.
The portfolio was acquired from Berlin-based developer Foremost Hospitality Group. Although financial details were not disclosed, market analysts estimate the value of the deal at about €280 mln.
Whitbread said that the deal will give its Premier Inn brand 'substantial presence in the German hotel market, increasing the total committed network pipeline to 31 hotels with over 5,700 rooms across 15 key cities that are all expected to be open by the end of 2020'.
'This acquisition is an important step in accelerating Whitbread’s existing international strategy and in replicating Premier Inn UK’s success and network scale in this key strategic market,' the company added. Whitbread will continue to explore options to further accelerate growth in Germany, through a mix of freehold property developments, leasehold sites and acquisitions of small existing hotel portfolios.
'Today’s announcement marks the next stage in our ambitious growth plan for the Premier Inn brand in Germany,' said Alison Brittain, CEO of Whitbread. 'We believe Germany has many of the structural growth drivers that have underpinned the success of Premier Inn in the UK and that Germany is a market that will deliver strong returns in the future.'
The acquisition includes 13 leasehold hotels (comprising 2,140 rooms), which are already open and trading, and six committed pipeline leasehold hotels (comprising around 970 rooms), the majority of which will open over the next two years.
The transaction is conditional upon obtaining consent from landlords to rebrand the hotels and upon the termination of the franchise agreements with the current franchisor. This could take up to two years for the 13 trading hotels.
Premier Inn currently has one hotel open in Frankfurt and a further 11 hotels in its committed pipeline across key cities in Germany, having recently secured an additional organic development in Munich for 216 bedrooms.
