September 29, 2017HENDERSON PARK COMPLETES £500 MILLION HILTON METROPOLES ACQUISITION, WITH £330 MILLION SENIOR FINANCING FROM AAREAL BANK
- Significant repositioning plans for two of the UK’s largest hotels -
29 SEPTEMBER 2017: Henderson Park, the European real estate investment platform founded by Nick Weber, has completed the £500 million acquisition of the London and Birmingham Hilton Metropole hotels, two of the UK’s most significant hotels, which offer over 1,800 beds in aggregate. As part of the transaction, Henderson Park has secured a seven-year, £330 million senior financing through Aareal Bank.
Henderson Park plans to work with Hilton on an asset management programme that will further enhance these landmark assets, capitalising on their prime locations and market standing, while cementing their position as hotels of choice for both international and domestic business and leisure travellers. Hilton will remain in place as manager under the existing Hotel Management Agreements.
The Hilton London Metropole is located on Edgware Road with close proximity to Paddington Station, which offers rapid access to Heathrow airport and, from 2018, the new Crossrail/Elizabeth line. It is London’s largest conference hotel by delegate capacity, second largest hotel by room count and one of Hilton’s flagship UK hotels, with 1,059 bedrooms and 42 conference and meeting rooms.
The Hilton Birmingham Metropole is the UK’s largest hotel outside of London, with 790 rooms, and the UK’s largest conference hotel by delegate capacity, with 33 banquet and meeting rooms for up to 2,000 delegates. It is located at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre and adjacent to Birmingham International Airport and future HS2 train station.
This acquisition marks Henderson Park’s entry into the UK hotel market and follows investments into the sector in Paris, where it bought Le Méridien Étoile, the city’s largest hotel, and the purchase of The Ledra, a 5-star hotel in Athens in June.
Nick Weber, Founding Partner of Henderson Park, said: “The completion of this acquisition brings two significant hotel assets into our portfolio, both of which offer a number of opportunities to further enhance their value through the implementation of a refurbishment and repositioning programme we intend to undertake with Hilton. The £330 million financing that we have secured with Aareal is a further endorsement of both the assets’ defensive characteristics and high quality, as well as our business plans for them. We are also pleased to bring the first Hilton properties into our portfolio and we look forward to a rewarding long-term relationship with Hilton on these and other assets.”
For further information:
FTI Consulting: +44 (0)20 3727 1000
Richard Sunderland, Ellie Sweeney
About Henderson Park
Henderson Park is a real estate investment platform, recently launched by Nick Weber. Henderson Park is backed by three cornerstone investors: Stone Point Capital, Kuwait Investment Authority and Wafra Investment Advisory Group.
Henderson Park has been established to invest in European real estate, primarily targeting gateway cities and seeking investments in both assets and companies. Henderson Park will pursue opportunities across a wide variety of commercial real estate sectors.
Henderson Park is led by Nick Weber, its Founding Partner and CEO. Nick has over 20 years of real estate experience, including most recently as Head of Europe for Mount Kellett and previously at Goldman Sachs for 14 years, where he was a Partner and Co-Head of its European Special Situations Group.
The information contained herein shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
