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The St David's Hotel & Spa
Christie + Co acted on behalf of Rocco Forte Hotels to successfully identify a purchaser for the iconic 132-bedroom St David’s Hotel & Spa in Cardiff Bay. Although the client originally planned to retain a management contract, Principal Hotels acquired the renowned property for £32.5 million, in a single asset transaction.
QMP
Christie + Co sold the independent QMP group of forecourts to United Co-operatives. QMP was established with the acquisition of Quarry Motor Services in 1997 and grew, through further acquisitions, to operate seven sites in North Yorkshire and Cleveland, which all feature Spar stores.
Merger of Happitots Day Nurseries with the Bertram Nursery Group
Christie + Co facilitated the merger of Happitots Day Nurseries with the Bertram Nursery Group. Happitots Day Nurseries comprised 12 nurseries, providing 865 registered places, wrap-around care and an associated training business.
Biggest deal from London and Birmingham
Acting on behalf of Hilton Hotels Corporation in its largest hotel deal in 2006, Christie + Co sold the 1,054-bedroom Hilton London Metropole (the largest business hotel in the UK) and the 794-bedroom Hilton Birmingham (the largest UK hotel outside London). The two hotels were sold to Dr Edward Wojakovski’s family-owned Tonstate Group for £417m.Punching its way to success
Christie + Co acted for Punch Taverns in the three-phase marketing of more than 720 new lease opportunities. Christie + Co succeeded in achieving significant premiums for many of these high quality pubs, which were formerly operated by Spirit as managed houses. The marketing included a series of professionally-produced brochures, a number of roadshow promotions, various e-marketing campaigns, extensive advertising and special features on both the Punch and Christie + Co websites.BIL exercises acquisitions
On behalf of BIL Gaming, a wholly owned subsidiary of BIL International, Christie + Co undertook a fully coordinated national acquisition exercise to deliver multiple sites for BIL to pursue 1968 Gaming Act Certificate of Consent and Casino Licence applications. This exercise followed BIL’s £31 million acquisition of the famous Clermont Club in Berkeley Square, London.Acorn matures in record time
Acting on behalf of Acorn International Hotels, Christie + Co sold a portfolio of 10 hotels in the Balearic Islands. The 2, 3 and 4 Star properties had a total of 2,834 beds and were acquired by Hoteles Globales. The hotels were sold in record time – just five months after their introduction to the market – and the sale was one of the highest profile deals in Spain in 2006.
Valuation team cares in Hanover
Christie + Co’s specialist corporate valuation team undertook an investment valuation of a large care home and sheltered accommodation complex near Hanover on behalf of a UK purchaser and its funders. The property, which is let to one of Germany’s leading healthcare providers, is part of a growing market, providing our clients with an attractive return on investment.
Christie + Co in bed with the biggest
In one of the biggest portfolio transactions of 2005, Christie + Co handled the sale of nine UK hotels on behalf of Queens Moat Houses. Located in Bedford, Cardiff, Harlow, Northampton, Nottingham, Telford, Thurrock, Watford and West Bromwich, the hotels were openly marketed and sold to Jefferson Hotels, a vehicle of the Landesberg and Rosenberg families in partnership with the owners of Galliard Homes. The purchaser secured a lease agreement with Rezidor SAS, who will operate the hotels under their Park Inn brand.Cannon Capital sells its capital
In what was both the second largest healthcare sale of 2005 and the largest care sector deal ever transacted by an agent, Christie + Co sold the entire share capital of Cannon Capital Group Holdings, a company which holds the freehold interest in 91 care homes across the UK. The homes, which are currently let to Ashbourne Healthcare and offer accommodation for approximately 4,500 elderly people, were acquired by London & Regional Properties for £365.5 million.
The Priory
Christie + Co’s specialist healthcare valuation team was asked to value The Priory Group’s extensive portfolio after its acquisition by ABN AMRO. The valuation provided was for use in both the syndication of debt facilities and as part of a securitisation process. Going forward, Christie + Co will monitor the ongoing performance of the business on behalf of ABN AMRO and its service facility provider, Hatfield Philips.Christie + Co’s quality Hallmark
Christie + Co’s specialist team valued Hallmark’s high-quality portfolio of 19 care homes and four development sites, which provide more than 1,000 beds. Hallmark Healthcare has grown steadily to become one of the leading providers of long-term care across England and Wales, and it aims to expand through both new-build development and acquisition. Christie + Co worked with Hallmark to facilitate a rapid expansion programme by assisting with the acquisition of a number of purpose-built homes and providing valuation advice. These services were part of a successful refinancing exercise, which will fund Hallmark’s future expansion.
Best advice resorted to
Christie + Co was appointed as adviser to the new owner of the former residence of the Margrave of Baden-Baden in Germany, who intended to convert the property into a de luxe spa resort with a variety of facilities. Christie + Co’s work included market research, best-use concepts, an estimation of investment costs, cash flow projections and IRR-calculations. Three different best-use scenarios were analysed, each taking into consideration the historic nature of the building which dates from the 13th and 14th centuries.
Asset strategy achieved
Prior to the takeover of QMH plc by Goldman Sachs’ Whitehall fund, Christie + Co was instructed to sell QMH’s three London Moat Houses – Drury Lane, Sloane Square and Kensington – and the Edinburgh Capital as a portfolio, comprising 488 bedrooms in total. Despite the complicated tenure structures on two of the hotels, the sales were completed in April 2004 resulting in total proceeds of £42.1million. Drury Lane was sold to Travelodge and Edinburgh Capital to Portland Hotels.This brought QMH’s single asset disposal strategy to an end.
Carrick taken care of
Christie + Co was instructed to sell the entire share capital of Carrick Care Homes, Scotland’s largest independent care home provider with 12 high quality purpose-built homes in the greater Glasgow area providing over 750 nursing beds in predominantly single en suite facilities. The group was “auctioned” off market to trade and financial buyers by the corporate healthcare team with the eventual purchaser, BUPA Care Homes, substantially outbidding all other parties. This purchase doubled BUPA’s presence in Scotland with the deal timed to conclude with the opening of Carrick’s largest home, Elderslie in Paisley.
Prickly problem solved
Following the takeover of Thistle Hotels plc by its largest shareholder BIL International Ltd in July 2003, the company decided to rationalise their London estate. Two freehold assets were deemed to be non-core and Christie + Co was instructed to sell Thistle Islington and London Ryan hotels in the Kings Cross. These hotels were located within 200 yards of each other and were simultaneously sold in April 2004 to an investor who immediately leased the hotels to Travelodge. The hotels comprised 586 bedrooms and the sales proceeds were £55m.
