Conker Dawn Acquires Hampton Waterloo And DoubleTree York From Shiva Hotels For £95m
Main Photo: The DoubleTree by Hilton York
Date: September 2021
Name: Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo And Doubletree by Hilton York
Location: Waterloo, London and York, England, UK
Number of Keys: 297 & 143 – 440
Seller: Shiva Hotels
Buyer: Conker Dawn
Conker Dawn Limited, a new investment vehicle formed by Blackbear Capital’s Founder and Managing Partner Heath Forusz, along with his partners in Conker Dawn – John Nacos and Michael Stanton, have acquired the Hampton by Hilton Waterloo and Doubletree by Hilton York from privately-owned, UK-based Shiva Hotels, for £95 million.
The 297-room Hilton Waterloo and 143-room Doubletree York are Conker Dawn’s first hotel investments overall, with the aim of building a portfolio of hotels in the UK and in Europe. UK-based hotel asset managers Michels & Taylor will operate the two properties.
The two hotels take the number of properties managed by M&T up to 25, comprising more than 3,500 bedrooms. A third hotel is expected to be acquired by Conker Dawn as the company sets about building up a portfolio of hotels across the UK and Europe, with M&T as the operating partner.
Hugh Taylor OBE, CEO of Michels & Taylor told RPBI News, “For a number of years, M&T has been one of Europe’s leading hotel advisory and asset management businesses, but we are not as well known for our managed division which has quietly been building a great portfolio over recent years. This latest deal firmly positions M&T as one of the leading hotel management companies in the UK and importantly adds another first-class hotel to our London operation.
Our managed portfolio is now 25 strong across the UK and we have a significant pipeline of deals that we expect to close over the coming months. We are delighted to be working with Heath, his partners and the investors of Conker Dawn and look forward to helping them create a substantial and market leading portfolio of assets under our guidance and management.”
Heath Forusz said: “We are very excited to have secured our first major deal in the UK for our new vehicle. These two assets set the standard for our future acquisition strategy – first-class hotels in great locations with real potential for growth.”
Shiva Hotels, which was founded by former Lehman Brothers derivatives trader Rishi Sachdev in 2001, now numbers four hotels: Lincoln Plaza London, operated under Hilton’s Curio Collection; Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5; the Guardsman at Buckingham Gate; and Middle Eight in Covent Garden.
Price: £90m
Price per Key: £220,930
THPT Comment: Shiva have been on-off on selling some of their hotel portfolio for some years now. Michels & Taylor (M&T) is well known for its hotel advisory and asset management businesses. In fact, THPT go back a long way with Sir David Michels and Hugh Taylor to when they ran some of Britain’s biggest hotel brands. The M&T management division is growing nicely.
First Seen: Hospitality Net
The Hotel Property Team (THPT) is a small group of highly experienced business professionals. Between us, we provide a range of skills and experience which is directly relevant to those involved in the hotel property market. For more information – Visit www.thpt.co.uk or email [email protected]
