LRC acquires remaining Amaris Hospitality portfolio

LRC Group has acquired the remainder of Lone Star's Amaris Hospitality group and plans to add seven Hilton-branded hotels to the portfolio.

The European property investor and manager is expected to complete the acquisition of the seven hotels, which all trade under the DoubleTree by Hilton brand, from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management later this year, bringing the number of hotels under Amaris Hospitality to 30. The transaction sums are undisclosed.

Amaris Hospitality will become LRC's new hotel investment and management platform and will manage the new hotels. LRC's plans to accelerate the growth of its hotel investments and through Amaris Hospitality create a portfolio of more than 50 high-quality, internationally branded hotel assets.

Peter Stack (pictured) has been appointed managing director of Amaris Hospitality, having previously been managing director of asset management with Amaris.

John Brennan, the outgoing chief executive of Amaris Hospitality, has been appointed non-executive chairman of Amaris Hospitality by LRC and will act as a strategic advisor to LRC on all hospitality investments.

American private equity company Lone Star created Amaris Hospitality, comprising a collection of 89 hotels, and spent around £100m on rebranding and updating the hotels.

Lone Star has been selling off parts of the portfolio over the last few years, including all 21 properties within the Hotel Collection, and the 36-strong Jurys Inn portfolio, which was sold to the Israeli-based Fattal Hotels Group and Swedish hotel investment company Pandox for £800m late last year.

The seven Hilton-branded hotels comprise more than 1,000 rooms and approximately 900 staff. They will add to Amaris Hospitality's existing 23 hotels which trade under the Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, DoubleTree by Hilton, Mercure and Ibis Styles brands, which between them have 3,800 rooms and employ 1,800 people.

Stack said: "We are very excited about working with our new owners LRC Group and as the addition of these seven hotels demonstrates together we have ambitious growth plans for the business…

"Key to our strategy will be acquiring and investing in established hotels trading under acclaimed international brands in key strategic locations and we're delighted to have added seven more DoubleTree by Hilton hotels to our portfolio."

Brennan said: "I am really looking forward to taking up this role on behalf of LRC and to working with the investors and the board in supporting Peter and his leadership team as they pursue their ambitious plans for the business."

LRC director of operations and head of acquisitions UK Chris Dimitriadis said: "We are delighted to welcome Amaris Hospitality into the LRC Group and look forward to working with Peter Stack and his very experienced team…

"We are especially pleased that John Brennan has agreed to become chairman of the business. John brings a wealth of experience to the new role and he will be assisting us with our ambitious plan to significantly grow our presence in the hospitality sector, especially in the UK and Ireland."

The seven hotels to be added to the Amaris Hospitality portfolio are:
• Doubletree by Hilton Bristol North
• Doubletree by Hilton Strathclyde
• Doubletree by Hilton Southampton
• Doubletree by Hilton Dartford Bridge
• Doubletree by Hilton Newbury North
• Doubletree by Hilton Coventry
• Doubletree by Hilton Edinburgh Airport

Other key members of the new Amaris Hospitality leadership team include Stephanie Gosling, who has been appointed commercial director; David Webster, senior operations director; and Kirstine Rowland, head of human resources.

LRC was advised by Paul Hastings (Europe) and Deloitte. Oaktree was advised by CMS and JLL's Hotels and Hospitality Group.

Jurys Inn sold for £800m >>

Lone Star rumoured to sell Jurys Inn and six Hilton hotels for more than £1b >>

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