DLA Piper Advises on UK’s Largest Hotel Deal of 2017

DLA Piper has advised hotel owner and operator QHotels Group on its acquisition via joint purchase agreement by China’s Cindat Capital Management and UK investment firm Aprirose.

The two purchasers will each acquire a 50% stake in the company. The final purchase price was £525 million, making it the largest deal in the UK hotel sector so far this year. QHotels was sold by Bain Capital Credit and Canyon Partners, who have owned the business since 2013.

QHotels Group is a hotel management company, formed in 2003 and based in Leeds, which operates luxury hotels and spas across the UK. Cindat Capital Management is a Chinese private equity firm that focusses on overseas property deals. Aprirose is a UK-based real estate investment company with a portfolio of over £1 billion and has been active on the market since 1987. The DLA Piper team acted for the company and the management sellers on corporate and real estate matters arising from the sale.

Lead partner in the sale, Wendy Harrison (Corporate, Leeds), said: “We are delighted to have been able to achieve this hugely successful result for our long-standing client. We have acted for the QHotel Group since it was formed in 2003 and the finalization of this transaction is testament to the excellent relationship we have had with the client over the past 15 years. This significant transaction attests to the strength of our nationwide Corporate offering.”

The DLA Piper team was led by Corporate partner Wendy Harrison with Real Estate partner Andrew Clarke, both based in the Leeds office.

(Source: DLA Piper)