Redefine Hotels and BDL Management merge
Redefine Hotels and BDL Management have merged to create what is claimed will be the largest hotel management company in the UK.
The newly launched Redefine BDL Hotels will manage 60 hotels including franchises from InterContinental Hotels Group, Hilton Worldwide, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Wyndham Hotel Group Resorts and Best Western - with a total of 6,700 bedrooms.
It is hoped that the new company, which will operate assets on behalf of individual investors and banks, will combine the financial strength and operational experience of Redefine Hotels with the hotel management and development expertise of BDL.
The merger follows the death last year of Louis Woodcock, the founder and chairman of BDL Management.
Helder Pereira, chairman of the new Redefine BDL Hotels, said the merger was "an extremely positive transaction" for both companies. "It is a strategic move which will enable us to be one step ahead of the trend for consolidation in Europe, mirroring what we are witnessing over in North America. We see significant opportunities to grow our business, both through acquiring new management contracts, and by partnering with owners and developers to deliver optimum performance from their assets, helping them to realise their full potential."
Stuart McCaffer, the chairman of BDL Management who replaced Woodcock will now leave the business after 15 years to concentrate on his own hotel ownership interests which will continue to be managed by the merged company.
Redefine Hotels is part of the Redefine Property Group, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. It brings 12 hotels to the new company including one in each of Liberia and South Africa.
The Holiday Inn London Bretford Lock, one of the hotels managed by the new company, is pictured here.
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