Seven further hotels which made up part of collapsed group von Essen have been sold for an undisclosed sum.
The hotels are said to have been sold for less than £30 million – more than £10 million short of the £40.5 million guide price, The Times reports this morning.
They include properties which formerly made up the Luxury Family Hotels group – the Ickworth in Suffolk, Moonfleet Manor in Dorset, Woolly Grange in Wiltshire and Fowey Hall in Cornwall.
They have been bought by private equity group Patron Capital and joint venture partner Halcyon Hotels and Resorts, which is run by Nigel Chapman who sold Luxury Family Hotels to von Essen for about £30 million six years ago.
The other three hotels in the deal are the Elms in Worcester, Thornbury Castle in South Gloucestershire and New Park Manor in Hampshire.
Patron, which led a recent rescue of Jarvis Hotels, and Halcyon are understood to be planning to invest at least £10 million in restoring the seven hotels, according to reports.
Chapman runs the Polurrian Bay Hotel in Cornwall via Halcyon.
The latest deal brings the number of von Essen hotels sold to 17 out of a chain of 27.
Ernst & Young joint administrator Angela Swarbrick said: “We are very pleased to announce the sale of these seven hotels.
“The high interest in the von Essen Hotels portfolio is translating into completed transactions and we expect to announce further sales shortly.”
Click here to see original article 9th December 2011
