UK-based hotel owner and operator Starboard Hotels acquired four Ibis Styles hotels in the UK from construction group Carillion. The properties, which Starboard will operate under franchise agreements with AccorHotels Group, will remain under the Ibis Styles brand and were acquired for an undisclosed sum.
The hotels in Barnsley, Birmingham National Exhibition Center, Crewe and Haydock now bring the number of Starboard’s hotels to 19 with close to 2,000 guestrooms. These operate under several brands, including InterContinental Hotels Group, Wyndham and Best Western. The hotel group also owns the Windemere Manor hotel in Cumbria, an independent property.
The new hotels will add approximately 500 guestrooms to Starboard’s portfolio. The Ibis Styles Birmingham NEC and Airport consists of 166 guestrooms, while the Ibis Styles Haydock has 102 guestrooms and the Barnsley and Crewe Ibis Styles hotels have 117 and 112 guestrooms, respectively.
Bank Leumi provided the senior debt for the portfolio purchase. Property consultancy Knight Frank brokered the portfolio more than a year ago, receiving offers of more than £30 million.
Starboard Hotels acquired another set of five Ibis hotels in the UK from Accor in May 2015 as part of seven-hotel, $35-million portfolio sale. The Ibis hotels in Gatwick, Plymouth, Birmingham Bordesley Circus, Sheffield and Leicester add a total of 469 guestrooms to Starboard's portfolio.
As part of a 20-year contract, Starboard will operate the hotels under the Ibis franchise. These additions doubled the group’s portfolio at the time to 10 properties with 1,000 guestrooms. Following the acquisition, Starboard began a multi-million dollar refurbishment program to update the properties.
This Ibis portfolio buy was Starboard’s third purchase in 2015 following its Best Western Blackpool and Holiday Inn Express Greenock acquisitions earlier in the year.