20 July 2010
Christie Group plc
Hotel Mandate
Christie Group plc ('Christie' or the 'Group'), the leading provider of professional business services and stock & inventory systems & services to the leisure, retail and care markets, announces that it has been appointed by Starwood Capital ('Starwood') to advise on the sale of 18 UK hotels.
Through its professional services division, the specialist property agent and advisor Christie + Co, it has been appointed by Starwood's Louvre Hotels, to advise on the sale of the freehold interests of the hotels, which comprises of 17 'Campanile' assets and one 'Première Classe' branded property, an estate totalling 1,549 bedrooms.
These hotels, which are a mixture of freehold and long leasehold sites, are spread across the UK in key locations such as Cardiff, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester.
Available with the benefit of a management contract with Louvre Hotels under its Campanile brand, this is a rare opportunity to acquire a whole group of hotels in one transaction.
Jeremy Jones, Director at Christie + Co, said: "The opportunity to acquire over 1,500 bedrooms in some of the UK's best trading locations is something of a rarity. To secure a leading flag on these assets by means of a management contract with Louvre Hotels makes this deal even more exciting."
"We anticipate a strong response reflecting the quality of the opportunity and the ability to keep growing one of Europe's best known hotel brands."
Enquiries:
David Rugg 020 7227 0707
Chief Executive
Christie Group plc
Russell Cook / Carl Holmes 020 7149 6000
Charles Stanley Securities
Nominated Adviser & Broker
Tom Cooper 0797 122 1972
Winningtons
Notes to Editors:
Christie Group plc (CTG.L), quoted on AIM, is a leading professional business services group with 31 offices across the UK, Europe and Canada, catering to its specialist markets in the leisure, retail and care sectors.
Christie Group operates in two complementary business divisions: Professional Business Services (PBS) and Stock & Inventory Systems & Services (SISS). These divisions trade under the brand names: PBS - Christie + Co, Pinders, Christie Finance and Christie Insurance: SISS - Orridge, Venners and Vennersys.
Tracing its origins back to 1846, the Group has a long established reputation for offering essential services to client companies in agency, valuation services, investment, consultancy, project management, multi-functional trading systems and online ticketing services, stock audit and inventory management. The diversity of these services provides a natural balance to the Group's core agency business.
For more information, please go to www.christiegroup.com.