Mergers & Acquisitions

🏨 PHD Hotels acquired the 111-key Aloft Birmingham Soho Square, brokered by Hunter Hotel Advisors. The hotel is located four miles from downtown Birmingham within the vibrant Soho Square district, featuring local boutiques and restaurants. Nearby are the Birmingham Zoo, Botanical Gardens, and universities. The hotel offers a meeting space, indoor pool, 24-hour fitness center, Re:fuel snack bar, and W XYZ Bar. Christopher Chavis of PHD Hotels emphasized the strategic value of the acquisition in this dynamic market.

🏨 Eastwood Park near Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, is on the market for £6 million. The Grade II listed hotel includes 71 ensuite rooms, eight meeting rooms for up to 150 delegates, and expansive outdoor grounds. Owner John Thatcher, retiring after 30 years, aims for a new buyer via Christie and Co. The venue, hosting weddings, meetings, and conferences, has significant growth and development potential, especially in leisure and corporate sectors.

💸 Travel software firm WeTravel, founded in 2014 in the Netherlands, has tripled its valuation after securing $92 million (€68 million) in Series C funding. Led by Sapphire Ventures, this investment will enhance its platform with AI-powered tools. CEO Ted Clements highlights the focus on streamlining complex workflows for multi-day travel. Other investors include Left Lane Capital and Base10. Previously, WeTravel raised $27 million under three years ago to expand its fintech solutions.

🍺 Balfour Hospitality sold its Hush Heath Inns portfolio, a five-pub joint venture with Stonegate Pub Company established in 2017. The pubs, including locations in Painswick, Tenterden, Rye, Forest Row, and Hollingbourne, are now fully owned by Stonegate. Balfour focuses on its venues, forecasting over 70,000 visitors at Balfour Winery in Kent in 2025. Led by Leslie Balfour-Lynn, the company operates boutique hotels and restaurants, ensuring an "authentically English experience.

🏨 In 2021, MML Hospitality, led by Larry McGuire, Tom Moorman, and Liz Lambert, revamped Hotel Saint Vincent in New Orleans into a 75-room boutique hotel, originally an 1861 orphanage. They acquired Nine Orchard in NYC for $92 million, featuring 113 rooms, with rates up to $1,000/night. MML plans a 57-room hotel in Austin by 2027 and a 59-room chalet in Aspen, blending local partnerships with unique designs in evolving neighborhoods.

💰 UK hotel investment reached £1.04bn in Q3 2025, a 28% year-on-year increase, led by London with £697m in transactions. Single asset transactions made up 92% of deals. Domestic owner-operators bought £1.2bn, up 77% on the 10-year average, while international asset managers purchased £734m, a 1,000% increase from 2024. Regional markets saw significant growth: Scotland at £316m (up 85%), South West at £180m (up 360%), and West Midlands at £256m (up 310%).

🍻 RedCat Hospitality's like-for-like sales rose 2% year-on-year, ending March 30, 2025. Adjusted EBITDA soared 290% to £8.8m, with site EBITDA up 42% to £18.7m. An £8m capital investment program began, focusing on pubs with rooms and carvery pubs. The Castle Carvery Clocktower in Norwich benefited from a £0.6m investment. Q1 sales rose 6.7% to £32.7m, with a strategic £3m refurbishment in South Wales delivering a 94% sales uplift. Investments in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Staffordshire led to a 20.3% sales growth.

💰 EXTENDAM and Highgate have partnered to acquire the Hilton Porto Gaia, a 194-room, five-star hotel in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal. Opened in 2021, the hotel offers 47 suites, a restaurant, bar, spa, and a 350-seat auditorium. Managed by Highgate under the Hilton brand, the hotel holds an A-rated energy certificate and Biosphere Responsible Tourism certification. This marks the first collaboration between EXTENDAM and Highgate, aiming to leverage Porto's thriving market.