London Acquisition

RNS Number : 8078A

PPHE Hotel Group Limited

25 March 2013

 



Private & Confidential

25 March 2013

PPHE Hotel Group Limited

("PPHE Hotel Group", the "Company" or the "Group")

Acquisition of a prime site near London Waterloo Station

PPHE Hotel Group is pleased to announce that it has today, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, conditionally agreed to acquire a prime site near Waterloo Station in London from Mapeley Acquisition Co. (Hercules) Limited (in receivership) for a consideration of £23.5 million in cash.

Hercules House located on Hercules Road, London SE1 (the Property) occupies a 1.09 acre site and comprises a 133,203 sq. ft. office tower, consisting of basement, ground and nine upper floors. The offices are currently let to the Department of Communities and Local Government, but the tenant has given notice to terminate the lease with effect from 28 September 2013.  The Property is close to the Group's existing hotels, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, Park Plaza County Hall and Park Plaza Riverbank.

The Company is considering a number of possible uses for the Property, including continuing the current office use and the possibility of a new hotel being developed on all or part of the site.  Any such development would be subject to a number of material contingencies, including the obtaining of satisfactory planning permission and prevailing market conditions.  Pending a decision on the future of the Property, the Company will seek to generate income from the Property by short term lettings.

The Company intends to arrange appropriate financing for the acquisition of the Property or to use its existing cash resources.

The acquisition of the Property is conditional on an underlease being entered into with the occupier of a small part of the Property which would require such occupier to vacate the Property by no later than 28 September 2013 or the seller procuring vacant possession of the Property by mid October 2013.

Completion is due to take place by the end of October 2013.

Boris Ivesha, President & Chief Executive Officer of PPHE Hotel Group, commented:

"We are pleased with the acquisition of this site in Central London and the unique opportunity it brings to the Group.  We have a strong track record of successful operations in London and this centrally located site is an excellent addition to our property portfolio."

Enquiries:

PPHE Hotel Group Limited

Chen Moravsky, Chief Financial Officer                                        Tel: [phone]

Hudson Sandler                                                                         Tel: [phone]

Wendy Baker / George Parker

Note to editors:

PPHE Hotel Group Limited (formerly Park Plaza Hotels Limited) is a Guernsey registered company, which, through its subsidiaries, jointly controlled entities and associates, owns, leases, operates, franchises and develops full service upscale and lifestyle hotels in major gateway cities and regional centres, predominantly in Europe.

The majority of the Group's hotels operate under two distinct brands, Park Plaza® Hotels & Resorts and art'otel® . The Company has an exclusive licence from Carlson^SM, a global privately owned hospitality and travel company, to develop and operate Park Plaza® Hotels & Resorts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The art'otel® brand is fully owned by the Group.

The Group has a minority ownership interest in the Arenaturist group, one of Croatia's leading hospitality companies. The Group's portfolio of owned, leased, managed and franchised hotels comprises 38 hotels offering a total of more than 8,200 rooms. Its development pipeline includes four new hotels, which together are expected to add nearly 800 rooms to the portfolio by the end of 2015.

Our company:

www.pphe.com                                                                                                  

Our brands:

www.parkplaza.com

www.artotels.com

www.arenaturist.com

For images and logos visit www.vfmii.com/parkplaza

 

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