The Royal Bank of Scotland and private equity group Patron Capital have sold a portfolio of 32 UK hotels for £160 million (US$245 million) to a joint venture between Singha Estate, the property arm of Thailand’s Boon Rawd Brewery Co. and a subsidiary of FICO Group, another Thai company.
Boon Rawd Brewery, which makes Singha Beer, is Thailand’s oldest brewery dating back to 1933 and is owned by the Bhirombhakdi family.
Jupiter Hotels owns and manages 26 hotels across the UK and operating under Accor’s Mercure franchise. It also manages five Dragonfly Hotels and the Talbot in Ripley, which is said to have been the site of Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton’s scandalous love affair in 1798.
RBS and Patron originally bought the portfolio from the administrators in September 2011 for around £110 million (US$168 million) after its previous owners Jarvis Hotels defaulted on their loans. Most of the properties are owned freehold.