Travelodge owner looks to buy £40m of hotels amid sale rumours

The owner of Travelodge is reportedly looking to buy millions of pounds worth of hotels from its landlords, fuelling speculation around a sale of the business.

US hedge fund GoldenTree Asset Management is in talks to purchase £40m of hotels, according to the Sunday Times.

The budget hotel chain bought 66 UK hotels for £210m from its largest landlord LXi REIT plc in March.

Travelodge leases hotels from third-party landlords and the move to purchase freeholds has increased speculation GoldenTree, which took over the chain in 2012, is looking to sell the chain.

The hedge fund explored a £1.2b sale of Travelodge last summer as the business benefited from a boost in demand for domestic travel.

Travelodge, which operates nearly 600 hotels and employs over 12,000 people, saw revenue exceed £1b for the first time last year.

The company acquired six hotels in Spain from Louvre Hotels Group earlier this month, doubling its presence in the Spanish market.

Travelodge was founded in 1985 and now has nearly 46,000 bedrooms across the UK, Ireland and Spain.