Legal & General acquires distressed Yotel London Clerkenwell

British institutional investor Legal & General has acquired the 212-room Yotel London Clerkenwell out of administration for £70 million (£330,000 per room) from James Cowper Kreston Administrators. The previous owner was London-based hotel firm Medina Investments. The hotel will continue to be operated by Yotel under a 20-year management agreement, representing perhaps the first time a UK pension fund has acquired a hotel that was not leased to the operator. In addition to the hotel, the property also has around 300 sqm of retail space and five apartments totaling around 450 sqm. The hotel, which is Yotel's first central London property, opened in August 2020.

Investor AB transfers ownership of Grand Hotel Stockholm to FAM AB

Patricia Industries, part of Investor AB, has entered into an agreement to transfer Foundation Asset Management (FAM) AB the ownership of both the 273-room Grand Hotel Stockholm and the Grand Group, which owns the hotel businesses of The Sparrow, Lydmar and Grand
hotels. Investor AB is controlled by the Wallenberg family, while FAM AB manages the wealth of certain Wallenberg family foundations. Given this related party relationship between buyer and seller, the valuation and other transaction terms were scrutinised by third parties. The total price of SEK 3.9 billion (€385 million) includes SEK 0.3 billion (€30 million) for the Grand Group and approximately SEK 3.6 billion (€355 million, or €1.3 million per key) for the Grand Hotel, Stockholm's most famous historic luxury hotel.

Pygmalion Capital acquires two distressed Hiltons in Florence

London-based hotel investment firm Pygmalion Capital Advisors has acquired a distressed portfolio of two hotels in Florence for an undisclosed price. The 333-room portfolio includes the 212-room Hilton Florence Metropole and the 121-room Hilton Garden Inn Florence Novoli. The two hotels were acquired from within a non-performing loan portfolio and will both retain Hilton branding. Pygmalion held the first close of its Pygmalion European Opportunistic Hotel Fund II in February this year.

Anter-Group acquires portfolio of three German hotels

Germany-based real estate firm Anter-Group has acquired a portfolio of three German hotels, totaling 381-rooms, for an undisclosed price. The portfolio includes the 198-room Courtyard Gelsenkirchen, the 106-room Courtyard Bochum Stadtpark and the 177-room Renaissance Bochum Hotel. All three properties are located in northwestern Germany between Dortmund and Düsseldorf.

Ogilvy Capital acquires the Herman K hotel in Copenhagen

London-based real estate investor Ogilvy Capital has acquired the 31-room Herman K hotel in Copenhagen from Danish property developers Dansk Ejendoms Management for an undisclosed price. The design hotel is housed in a former transformer station that was converted into a hotel by the seller between 2016 and 2018. The hotel features a restaurant, bar, lounge and a terrace with 180 covers. In partnership with Marriott International, Oglivy Capital will reopen the hotel as lockdown restrictions are eased in Denmark.

Studentbostäder acquires Akka 10 hotel in Stockholm

Sweden-based Studentbostäder, which specialises in university housing and hospitality, has acquired the 182-room Akka 10 hotel in Stockholm from Swedish real estate investor Estea Fastigheter AB for a reported €29.3 million (€161,000 per room). The property was originally used for student housing but today is operated as an extended-stay hotel and is fully let to the Forenom Group, the Nordic region's largest serviced apartment operator. The total lettable area is approximately 7,000 sqm.

Grace Leo and Tim Hartnoll acquire Cooden Beach Hotel in Sussex, UK

International hotelier Grace Leo and Singapore-based investor Tim Hartnoll have acquired the Cooden Beach Hotel in Bexhill-on-Sea, on the south-east coast of England, from entrepreneur James Kimber. The 41-room hotel was reportedly sold freehold off a guide price of £6,900,000 (£168,000 per room), and is planned to close for refurbishment in early 2022, re-opening in the spring as The Relais Cooden Beach. The acquisition follows Grace Leo and Tim Hartnoll's recent purchase of The Red Lion Hotel in Henley-on-Thames, which will reopen as The Realis Henley in the summer of 2021 following refurbishment.

Galgorm Collection acquires The Old Inn in Northern Ireland

Local boutique hotelier Galgorm Collection has acquired the 33-room The Old Inn in Crawfordsburn, Northern Ireland for an undisclosed price. The hotel sits on 1.5 acres of land in Crawfordsburn village and includes two wedding suites and a 78-seat restaurant, which is expected to reopen in May. The new owners plan to invest an additional £1 million (£30,000 per room) into renovation work to extend the site to incorporate a boutique spa with an infinity pool, hot tub, sauna, steam room and private cabanas.

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