Topland acquires Hallmark Hotels to create a strong hotel portfolio (UK)

Topland has acquired Hallmark Hotels a luxury four star hotel portfolio for circa £75 mln (approx. €95 mln), taking Topland’s hotel portfolio to 30 hotels across the UK. This transaction supports Topland’s ongoing strategy to build a £1 billion(approx. €1,2 billion) hotel business.
Hallmark consists of eight luxury four star hotels – 730 rooms, with 600 employees across the UK including Croydon, Manchester and Gloucester. Topland now employs close to 2000 people in its hotel business. It’s hotels include Bath's Royal Crescent Hotel, the Brighton Metropole, the Glasgow Hilton and a portfolio of Thistle Hotels, including five in central London and one in Edinburgh.
Topland will add the Hallmark hotels to the platform of the Menzies portfolio acquired in November 2013 and the day to day operations will be managed by Bespoke Hotels who have been managing the Menzies portfolio. Topland is one of the UK’s largest private real estate companies in the UK, and this acquisition follows Chief Executive Sol Zakay’s stated intention to substantially grow Topland’s hotel holdings, this acquisition brings The Topland Group to 3000 plus hotel rooms in the UK.
Zakay stated: “Securing this off-market transaction further cements Topland’s ability to effect hotel portfolio transactions to complement and further develop our existing hotel business. Hallmark represented an excellent opportunity to acquire a profitable and highly rated national hotel group, with a strong record of delivering growth reflecting a textbook Topland approach, and supporting Topland’s aim to build a £1bn hotel platform.”
Lionel Benjamin, Topland Director of Hotels said: “Hallmark Hotels success to date has been through a sharp acquisition strategy, a £16m refurbishment over the last four years and commencing the hotels repositioning in their respective locations and markets. The synergies with Menzies were immediately apparent combined with the opportunity to further grow the business as a combined hotel portfolio.”
Osborne Clarke and Baker Tilly advised Topland.
Source: Grenadier