Hospitality & Leisure

Between December 2009 and January 2011 Moorfield acquired a stake in The Capital Pub Company PLC, a London pub owner and operator. At the time of disposal the company had a portfolio of 34 mostly freehold pubs in prime residential and urban locations which all operated free of beer ties. As a major shareholder with an 11.0% stake, MREFII invested £3.1m in Capital Pubs through share purchases, discounted placings and rights issues at an average weighted in-price of 101p per share. Capital Pubs used the funds raised to acquire pubs and grow its estate as well as improve its balance sheet. In 2011 Capital Pubs was acquired by Greene King in a recommended takeover for a price of 235p per share.

Kew Green Hotels (KGH) was established in September 2001, with financial and business planning support from Moorfield Group and Bank of Scotland, to capitalise on the growth opportunities in the limited service hotel market. The Group owned managed or operated 21 hotels under established brands such as Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Courtyard by Marriott and Days Hotels. Together these hotels had 2,340 rooms with sales revenue of approximately £50m per annum. KGH looked to own and operate hotels in city centre, “premium” edge of town, or key transport hub (i.e. airport) locations. They focused on 100 – 150 bedroom properties which were highly visible from major traffic routes with strong complimentary offers close by, such as health clubs and other leisure facilities.

A portfolio of 24 regional mid-market full service hotels acquired from Macdonald hotels and previously operated under the Macdonald brand. Following the acquisition, Accor were appointed through a management contract to operate the hotels under the Mercure brand. The hotels are all 3 and 4 star rated and offer a range of conference, leisure, food and beverage facilities catering to both the corporate and leisure markets. Moorfield built an additional 86 rooms, secured planning for an additional 112 rooms and meeting room space, and rebranded and refurbished the Francis Hotel in Bath as an M Gallery. In February 2015 an off market approach from Lone Star resulted in an early realisation of the business plan and sale of the hotels.

Safestay was a start-up joint venture between Moorfield and Safeland Plc to develop a c.410 bed hostel in Elephant & Castle, London. The hostel opened in June 2012 trading under the name Safestay.

Moorfield sold its 80% stake following the successful IPO of the business which resulted in an early realisation of the business plan.

Acquisition and leaseback of 39 Shearings Hotels located throughout the UK, predominantly in coastal locations. Shearings is the UK’s leading coach holiday operator that targets the over-55’s market, a large and robust sub-sector of the UK holiday market with attractive demographics. Moorfield worked closely with the Shearings’ Management team to unlock further value from the real estate, creating 46 additional bedrooms and 16 residential apartments. In 2014 we restructured the lease and acquired a 43% interest in the Shearings Opco. In February 2015 an off market approach from Lone Star resulted in an early realisation of the business plan and disposal of the Shearings investment.