Jurys Inn chain acquired by Swedish and Israeli groups for £800m

Swedish hotel group Pandox and Israeli group Fattal Hotels have acquired a 37-hotel portfolio from Lone Star for £800 million ($1.08 billion).

The hotels are spread out across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales and include two hotels in Dublin, one in Cork, one in Galway, and another in Belfast. Also, one is in Prague, five on the island of Ireland and the remaining are in Britain.

Pandox will take ownership of 20 of the properties in the portfolio, along with the operations of the Heathrow airport property. The remaining properties, which are on long-term leases, will be managed by a division of Fattal.

All of the 35 Jurys Inn-branded hotels — including the management contract of Jurys Inn Prague — will be operated by a subsidiary of Fattal, called Leonardo. Leonardo will retain the Jurys Inn brand and existing company structures and it will operate the Jurys Inn business as a separate division.

The Jurys Inn business will continue to be led by Jason Carruthers and the existing leadership team.

The deal is expected to close before end of year.

With this deal, its second biggest, Pandox will gain significant market presence in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Pandox currently has 122 hotels spanning 11 countries, including Norway, Finland and Denmark, for a total of about 27,000 rooms.

Lone Star acquired the Jurys Inn chain in January 2015 from a group of investors: the Oman Investment Fund, Mount Kellett Capital Management, Ulster Bank, Westmont Hospitality Group and Avestus Capital Partners.