Key Facts
Initial investment: 04/10/2007
Sector: Consumer & Leisure
Fund: Buyout Fund I
Status: Realised
Investment Highlights
- Acquired eight hotels across the UK including Manchester, Carlisle, Derby, Bournemouth, Hull, Gloucester and Croydon.
- Worked with management on a market mapping exercise to identify target assets.
- Appointed a highly experienced hotelier with a track record of undertaking major refurbishment programmes, as chairman.
- Completed the successful sale of Hallmark to Topland Group Limited for consideration of circa £75m generating a 2x return.
Partnership Motivation
We were impressed by the experienced management team, led by Arnold Schnegg and James Hawksworth who had successfully implemented a similar strategy as part of the operational team at Paramount Hotels. The strategy was based on acquiring underperforming 3-star hotels and converting them into 4-star hotels through a combination of operational improvement and refurbishment.
Hallmark’s success was achieved through a robust acquisition strategy, driven by a talented and committed management team. The UK hotel market has faced challenging times, but through focus on providing a high quality product combined with significant operational improvements and a coherent sales strategy, we have built an impressive chain of 4-star hotels. It has been a pleasure working with the management team and we’re pleased to have secured a good return for our investors.
Palatine
