Lone Star Funds acquires Jurys Inn portfolio of 31 hotels

The transaction by the sellers - Oman Investment Fund, Mount Kellett Capital Management, Ulster Bank (part of the Royal Bank of Scotland), Westmont Hospitality Group and Avestus Capital Partners - is subject to approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in Ireland.

Founded in Ireland, the origins of Jurys Inn dates back to 1999 when the Doyle portfolio of hotels in Dublin, London and Washington DC was acquired by the Jurys Hotel Group. The company was acquired by Derek Quinlan’s Quinlan Private Venture Capital company for £1bn (a price that included the business’s debt) in 2007 and two years later the Oman Investment Fund invested £172m for a 50% stake.

In 2013 Jury Inn completed a financial restructuring which resulted in the cutting of its £600m debt to around £250m and the establishment of its current shareholder group. The brand has since revitalised with £37m being invested on improving the portfolio over the past two years. Today the group owns and operates four hotels in London, 21 in the UK provinces, five in Ireland and one in Prague. The company employs 2,000 staff.

John Brennan, chief executive of Jurys Inn, will continue to lead the business. He said he welcomes the new ownership of Lone Star Funds, who are “very committed to the future growth and development of the Jurys Inn brand and business”.

Hassan Al Nabhani, chief executive of CEO of the Oman Investment Fund, added: “The capital restructuring undertaken in May 2013, with the co-operation of the lenders and our partners, revived the group, paving a new path of growth and progress.”

The Jurys Inn transaction is the latest in a flurry of investor activity since the start of the New Year. Private investment company Topland bought the eight-strong, family-run Feathers Group in the north west of England; while US-based property investment firm Starwood Capital completed two deals in different sector of the market. It purchased Blythswood Square â€" Glasgow’s only five-AA-star hotel â€" along with the Bonham hotel in Edinburgh, which formed the Town House Collection, as well as acquiring a portfolio of five properties in London previously operated by Think Apartments. Last week London’s four-AA-star, 33-bedroom St Ermin’s hotel was sold for a reputed £185m to a US-based Taiwanese family.

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