Bowling Green Asset Management acquires Holiday Inn, Stonehenge for £12.5million

Posted in News on 20 December, 2017

Bowling Green Asset Management (BGAM) is announcing its second branded hotel acquisition of 2017, a luxury 103-room Holiday Inn, located close to Salisbury and Stonehenge, for £12.5 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 9.25 per cent.

The property has been sold by Colliers International’s Hotels Agency team on behalf of the off-shore based Fiesta Enterprises Limited. It is located situated six miles from the Stonehenge UNESCO world heritage site and benefits from newly refurbished accommodation and the acclaimed onsite Solstice Bar and Grill. BGAM will be looking at various asset management opportunities on site, whilst continuing the good work of the previous owner.

BGAM will also be keeping the current senior management team, as well as all existing employees.

BGAM directors (Jamie Levy & Nicholas Rubin) said: “This hotel has been a target of ours for some time, so we are pleased to complete the purchase. The hotel has been run on a sound footing previously and we have no intention of upsetting the applecart. Many of the staff have been with the hotel for a number of years and we hope they remain with us for the foreseeable future. We will be looking to expand the hotel offerings, along with continuing the hunt for potential acquisitions”.

The sale was handled by Julian Troup, Head of Hotels Agency and Paul Barrasford, Director at Colliers International. Mr Troup commented: “Our instructions were to handle the marketing in a confidential fashion. Having approached a “target list” of overseas and domestic potential buyers, a good deal of interest was expressed in this outstanding opportunity.

The interest expressed follows a pattern of increasing demand for U.K. provincial hotels, particularly for global branded stock. We are seeing an emerging trend of increased demand for quality provincial hotel opportunities from a diverse buyer set, including international investors, who have been attracted by weaker sterling; and from private buyers, attracted to the benefits of a lifestyle opportunity, to corporate investors attracted to favourable returns and real estate alternatives.  Since the beginning of 2016, over 20 per cent of U.K. hotel sales completed by Colliers were to international buyers.