Carillion-owned hotels snapped up in property deal
Four hotels owned by Carillion – including one at Birmingham's NEC site – have been snapped up in a multi-million pound deal.
All four Ibis Styles hotels had been put up for sale a year ago by Carillion, which was hoping for offers in excess of £30 million.
New owner Starboard Hotels is not revealing how much it paid for the quartet, which in Barnsley, Crewe and Haydock as well as at Birmingham NEC.
The NEC hotel on its own was valued at nearly £18 million. Sitting close to the NEC and Birmingham Airport, it was converted from offices to a 166-bedroom hotel in 2008 and underwent a major refurbishment in 2015.
Carillion started trying to sell off assets last summer in a bid to rescue the company after it revealed £845 million losses on construction work. It went into liquidation in January. Around 1,500 jobs have been lost so far and 8,000 salvaged from its 18,000-strong UK workforce. The jobs of around 8,000 more – including 400 at its Wolverhampton headquarters – still hang in the balance.
It is thought the bulk of the money paid by Starboard will go towards the liquidation of Carillion's assets, to be eventually shared out among its creditors.
The sale of the hotels was being handled by agents Knight Frank and they will remain as Ibis Styles, operated by Starboard under franchise from Accor.
It increases Starboard's portfolio to 19 hotels under brands including Accor, IHG, Wyndham and Best Western, as well as Starboard's Windermere Manor Hotel in the Lake District.
Paul Callingham, managing director of Starboard Hotels said: “This is a substantial acquisition for Starboard and an important investment in protecting the future of these hotels and the people who work there. The four hotels fit perfectly within our portfolio and represent a significant investment for our business. Individually, the hotels are in excellent geographic locations and further increase our presence in the UK hotel sector across the country.”
Headded: “We are thrilled to be bringing the four Ibis Styles hotels into the Starboard family and provide long term ownership and security to our people. My team and I have many years of experience across all areas of the hospitality sector, combined with a forward thinking approach to ensuring Starboard stays at the forefront of the country’s buoyant hotel market. These are exciting times for the industry and we are on course for continued growth with further acquisitions already in the pipeline for the early part of this year .”
