De Vere Tortworth Court is a historic manor house in the South Cotswolds . Starwood Capital Group acquired De Vere Venues for $ 385 million in 2014 . |
|||
|
U . K . MOVES As 2024 unspools , there ’ s a mix of perspectives on how robust transaction activity will be given various market conditions across a wide swath of countries , although the skew is more positive than not .
“ We witnessed a robust pick-up in the back end of 2023 and this [ translated ] into a number of significant asset and portfolio transactions in Q1 and Q2 of this year , which illustrates some green shoots in terms of investment-market recovery and significant signs that 2024 will provide a more-positive
|
capital market environment ,” said Marc Nelson , EVP , hotels for JLL . “ Investors are broad , from private equity , sovereign wealth and even tenant buybacks . The key difference is that investors appear to be risk-on , taking a view on the movement of swap rates and general recovery . One could be hopeful in saying we are at or near the bottom of the cycle .”
Earlier this year , JLL was involved in one of the hospitality industry ’ s more high-profile deals , largely due to the buyer , providing real estate advisory services to Edwardian
|
Group in its sale of 10 Radisson Blu properties to an affiliate of U . S . -based Starwood Capital Group for an undisclosed price .
The private investment firm , led by Chairman & CEO Barry Sternlicht , scooped up the U . K . - based portfolio representing 2,053 rooms and the bulk of Edwardian Group ’ s hotel assets , leaving it with three properties : The Londoner and a pair of Radisson Collection hotels , The Edwardian Manchester and The May Fair .
Camble indicated that the deal was a great pacesetter for the year and demonstrated
|
the “ incredible appeal of London ” to international investors . “ We foresee many more deals in London in the coming 12 months , but [ we ’ re ] unlikely to see more portfolio transactions ,” he said .
That said , Starwood Capital Group , in March , dropped another interesting piece of business strategy , letting observers know it was seeking to combine affiliated investment entities that own interests in the U . K .’ s De Vere hotel portfolio , as well as its New York City 1 Hotels assets , with one of its special purpose acquisition
|
72 hotelsmag . com May / June 2024 |