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Brownsword Acquires 4 Hotels in the UK

Andrew Brownsword, an English businessman, is the new owner of 4 von Essen hotels in the UK. These properties have been put to administration. The sum of the deal is told to estimate £32 million (US$50 million).

The properties purchased are a hotel-castle in Amberley, Buckland Manor in Broadway, Lower Slaughter Manor in Lower Slaughter, and Washbourne Court in Lower Slaughter. These accommodations have been bought by Bath Priory Ltd. totally owned by Brownsword and his wife.

All four hotels will be operated by Brownsword Hotels and Nick Halliday is appointed as the new CEO. This person is known for long and beneficial cooperation with Brownsword as he has been the managing director of Abode Hotels – a chain of lifestyle hotels located in the UK and developed in collaboration with Michael Caines, a widely known British restaurateur.

Von Essen is a famous UK hotel chain founded in the 90s. The founder of the organization was Andrew Davis – London property magnate. Right from the beginning the company has chosen quite aggressive strategy. New acquisitions were announced all the time, but this caused the uncontrolled growth of Von Essen portfolio. Due to economic downtown provincial hotels of the company became unprofitable, while low RevPAR levels made the company go bankrupt. The group defaulted in April 2011. The total debt of the company reached €250 million (US$345 million).

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