Nine Group sells two Ibis hotels to Luxmi Group

Two Ibis hotel in the Midlands have been sold by hotel investment company Nine Group to the Calcutta-based Luxmi Group, for £5m.

The 51-bedroom Ibis Birmingham City Centre and 52-bedroom Ibis Coventry South will be run by Neelabha Chatterjee, a director of Luxmi, which was founded in 1912 as a producer of tea.

Their acquisition marks Luxmi's first involvement in the UK hotel sector. The company now plans to buy further properties here.

The sale follows a period of rapid expansion by Nine Group, which has recently bought the Chequers hotel in Horley, Surrey, for over £5m, and a development site for a 50-bedroom hotel in North Greenwich, London.

Nine Group's portfolio of nearly 20 branded hotels includes the Mercure St Albans Noke hotel, the Crowne Plaza Basingstoke and the Novotel London Heathrow Airport.

Henry Jackson, partner, hotels & leisure at Knight Frank, which negotiated the deal, said: "With sterling at a record low and hotel trading performance remaining strong, the regional hotel market is attracting considerable interest from overseas purchasers."

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