Village Hotels sold to Blackstone

Blackstone Real Estate has acquired Village Hotels from investor KSL Capital Partners.

Last month it was reported that the private equity investor had tabled an offer to buy Village for at least £850m.

It comes after advisers to KSL Capital partners, which bought the mid-market hotel chain for £485m in 2014, shared “teaser” documents with interested parties in February with a view to the sale of the business.

Village Hotels, which was founded in 1995, owns and operates 33 properties in large regional cities and suburban areas across the UK, amounting to 4,400 hotel keys. Its hotels feature pub-style restaurants, gyms, and co-working spaces.

While it was under KSL Capital Partners, the hotel group added more than 1,200 rooms and 45,000 fitness members to its portfolio.

In November last year, Village Hotels also entered a three-year partnership with the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) for an undisclosed sum.

James Seppala, head of real estate Europe at Blackstone, said: “We are delighted to add Village Hotels, a standout hospitality brand with a unique business model, to our real estate portfolio. We see great potential in lodging and leisure as a sector, especially where we can support strongly positioned businesses that deliver exceptional experiences to their customers.”

Gary Davis, chief executive of Village Hotels, added: “With KSL’s support, we have developed a differentiated brand, offering lodging, food, meeting space and health and wellness, ‘everything under one roof’.

“Each hotel attracts over 4,000 local members to our health and wellness clubs, quite unique in the hotel world, with high-tech equipment, fitness class facilities and pools with steam room and sauna. A great facility for the business traveller where health and wellness plus work facilities make us best in class. With Blackstone we see great opportunities to expand the number of hotels in the UK and further enhance our existing facilities. An exciting time for us all.”

Blackstone also acquired UK holiday company and owner of Haven Holiday Parks Bourne Leisure in 2021.

Lazard, Santander, Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett and DLA Piper advised Blackstone, while KSL was advised by Morgan Stanley & Co. International and Dentons.

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