Whitbread buys three hotels in Germany

Premier Inn owner Whitbread said on Monday that it has bought three hotels in Germany for an undisclosed sum.

The group has bought a portfolio of three independent hotels from a private individual operating under the brand Acomhotel. The portfolio comprises two leasehold hotels that are open and trading, in Nuremburg and Munich, with the right to purchase the freehold in seven and 13 years, respectively. A further leasehold hotel is under construction in Stuttgart and three locations together comprise 482 rooms, the company said.

This is the company's second hotel portfolio acquisition in Germany.

Whitbread said all three hotels are in strong locations in German tier one cities, which match its network planning targets. They are readily convertible to the Premier Inn format with similar room sizes and comparable ground floor space.

The hotels will continue to trade under the current Acomhotel brand until refurbishment work is completed. Once converted, they will be relaunched as Premier Inn hotels.

Mark Anderson, managing director Property & International at Whitbread, said: "Today's announcement marks another important step in our ambitious growth plan for Germany, as part of our strategic priority to focus on our strengths to grow internationally.

"We have accelerated our investment in Germany through a mix of organic expansion, supported by focused and ongoing M&A activity. We are building a strong counterparty reputation in Germany in freehold and leasehold property transactions, as well as facilitating exit for independent operators."

Premier Inn currently has three hotels open in Germany, all of which are performing in line with its expectations, Whitbread said.

At 1315 BST, the shares were down 1.8% at 4,409p.