US investment firm to create £2bn UK hotel group
Currently worth around £1.5bn, Lone Star believes the group's value will climb in the next three to five years following a £100m investment in re branding and refurbishing its hotels.
Amaris' porfolio includes 29 Jury’s Inn hotels acquired by Lone Star for £680m in January this year, alongside 21 Mecure and 17 Hotel Collection sites. Nineteen provincial Thistle hotels will join the group from 30th July.
The company currently has over 15,000 rooms and 8,000 employees, with combined sales of over £450m.
Former Jury’s Inn CEO John Brennan has taken on management of Amaris, with ex-Travelodge CEO Grant Hearn acting as non-executive chairman of the brand.
“The new Group will allow us to leverage the considerable scale and size of this unique portfolio of hotels and brands to accelerate its future growth and development and create the UK’s best performing, most exciting hospitality investment group,” commented Hearn.
“Through the successful implementation of our strategy in the coming years we expect the business to have a value of over £2 billion.”
Rothschild has been appointed to advise on the structure and roll out of Amaris's business plan over the next few years.
Brennan said: “We believe this commitment to this unique portfolio, our strategy and the quality of our team puts Amaris Hospitality in a unique position to leverage and capitalise on the economic recovery and the considerable opportunities emerging in the UK mid and upper market hotel sector.”
Lone Star’s remaining hotels will operate as a portfolio of regional sites under The Hotel Collection led by current managing director Peter Manby, and will not form part of Amaris Hospitality in the long term.
