Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (‘Freshfields’) has advised Swedish hotelier Pandox AB (‘Pandox’) on its agreement to acquire a portfolio of 36 hotel businesses under the Jurys Inn brand, and one Hilton Garden Inn from Lone Star. The agreement was made by Pandox in partnership with Fattal Hotels Group (‘Leonardo’) as the operating partner.

This complex transaction included the simultaneous acquisition of a hotel owning and operating business with an agreement to carve out the operating business and assets as part of a contemplated group reorganisation. Consortium finance arrangements were agreed by Pandox and Leonardo with third party acquisition debt provided by BAML.

Following the group reorganisation of the target portfolio, Pandox will retain 20 investment properties and one operating property in the UK and Ireland and Leonardo will acquire the operational platform of 36 Jurys Inn branded hotels. Pandox’s investment properties will be operated by Leonardo under long-term revenue-based lease agreements. The price paid was £800m and will be funded by a new bank loan from BAML, existing credit facilities and a loan from Leonardo (which will be deemed repaid following the planned reorganisation to separate the operating platform from the valuable property assets).

The Freshfields team was led by partners Victoria Hills and Patrick Ko in relation to the acquisition from Lone Star and the consortium arrangements with Leonardo, and by partners Max Lang and David Trott in relation to the acquisition funding from BAML and Leonardo.

The firm will continue to support the Pandox team through the reorganisation phase of the transaction. Earlier in 2017, Freshfields advised Pandox on its re-entry into the English hotel market with its purchase of the Hilton Hotel at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 4.