Starwood Capital Acquires Ten Radison Blu Edwardian Hotels (Eventually Reflagged)

Starwood Capital, the “founder” of Starwood Hotels, has acquired ten Radisson Blu Edwardian hotels in the UK that Edwardian Group will continue to operate on a “transitional” basis.

The deal doesn’t include two Radisson Collection hotels, The May Fair and The Edwardian Manches + The Londoner. It seems that these 10 Radisson Blu hotels will eventually exit the Radisson affiliation after property upgrades.

Hotels Sold:

• Radisson Blu Edwardian Hampshire Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury Street Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Berkshire Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Kenilworth Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Grafton Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian New Providence Wharf Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Heathrow Hotel & Conference Centre
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Sussex Hotel

Starwood Capital’s Press Release:

Acquisition of landmark Central London hotel portfolio

LONDON, Jan. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Starwood Capital Group (“Starwood Capital”), a global private investment firm with a primary focus on real estate, announced today that a controlled affiliate has acquired a portfolio of 10 hotels from Edwardian Group for an undisclosed sum via an off-market transaction.

The portfolio comprises 10 hotels with 2,053 rooms. Edwardian Group will continue to own and operate The Londoner and its two Radisson Collection hotels, The May Fair and The Edwardian Manchester, following closing of the transaction.

Alongside the acquisition, Starwood Capital and Edwardian Group intend to collaborate on future opportunities together. As part of this relationship, Edwardian Group will continue to operate the portfolio on a transitional basis while Starwood Capital plans its future investment into the hotels.

The acquisition adds to Starwood Capital’s existing portfolio of European hotel investments, which following the transaction will comprise 47 hotels / c.10,000 rooms across Europe.

Tim Abram, Managing Director at Starwood Capital, said: “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to acquire this one-of-a-kind portfolio of Central London freehold hotels. London is one of the world’s most sought-after hotel markets, and this portfolio enables to us gain exposure on a unique scale to London. We plan to invest significant capex during our ownership into further enhancing the hotels.”

Inderneel Singh, CEO of Edwardian Group, said: “Following the successful development of The Londoner and a period of strong trading across the portfolio, the sale represents an opportunity to refocus the group and position it for the next chapter of growth.”

“Our three landmark properties – The Londoner, The May Fair Hotel, and The Edwardian Manchester – each mark our continued commitment to invest in and deliver distinctive experiences for guests in high-end, purpose-built, city-centre hotels.”

JLL provided real estate advisory services and Baker McKenzie provided legal services to Edwardian Group for the sale. Paul Hastings (Europe) LLP acted for Starwood Capital on the acquisition.

List of Hotels

Radisson Blu Edwardian Hampshire Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury Street Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Berkshire Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Kenilworth Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Grafton Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian New Providence Wharf Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Heathrow Hotel & Conference Centre

Radisson Blu Edwardian Sussex Hotel

Conclusion

You may recall that Starwood Capital owned Principal Hotels in the UK that it sold to IHG and its partners in 2018, and many of those hotels were later reflagged under IHG’s Kimpton and InterContinental brands.

Nothing will happen with these Radisson Blu Edwardian hotels in the short term, but eventually, Starwood Capital will fix them up and likely resell them.

I’m not sure what is going on with Radisson.

It seems that the chain is in free fall after being acquired from the HNA by the Chinese Government-controlled hotelier, resulting in a split of operations to the Americas and the rest of the world, and later, the entire Americas operations offloaded to Choice.