TWO Premier Inn hotels in the West Midlands are part of a seven-strong portfolio sold in a £53.8m sale and leaseback deal with LaSalle Investment Management.
The Worcester and Hereford sites, along with companion Beefeater Grill pubs, will be leased back to the budget hotel chain from next month on 25-year deals, representing a net initial yield of under 5.5%.
Parent company Whitbread said the £53.8m price represented a profit over book value, as at March 3, of £28.1m and is 87% of the valuation ascribed to the properties in 2007.
The other properties are in Sandhurst, Harlow, Norwich, Chippenham and Weston-super-Mare.
Whitbread group finance director Christopher Rogers said: “Whilst Whitbread remains committed to having a substantial freehold asset base, it is our strategy to diversify our sources of funds.
“This sale and leaseback is another example of selectively using our property as an alternative method of funding future growth.
“In April of this year we announced new five-year growth milestones for the business, to increase Premier Inn rooms by 50% to at least 65,000 and to double the size of Costa.”
Advertise your business with TheBusinessDesk.com’s weekly Property Email. Learn more from Lee-J Walker on 07807 083544 or email him at leej.walker@thebusinessdesk.com
Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
