JURYS Inns Group has raised £60 million (€70m) to support the continued growth and expansion of its business and to strengthen its balance sheet.The group’s existing shareholders, Quinlan Private (QP) and the Oman Investment Fund, took part in the cash call along with its existing bankers.
Under the terms of the deal, completed last week, £30m involves fresh debt with the rest involving an injection of freshequity from the two shareholders, who each have a 50% stake in the group. The chain was bought for €1.1 billion from the family of the late PV Doyle in mid-2007.
Since the property crash its value has slumped and could rest at €600m at present, almost 50% less than the original purchase price. Derek Quinlan, founder of QP, is to step down as chairman and partner at the end of this month, 20 years after he founded the group. QP is a multi-billion group that has attracted investors from Britain, the US and the Middle East and with investments in more than 15 countries.
The property slump has put severe financial pressure on Mr Quinlan, a former tax inspector, who has built up a substantial private property portfolio supported by a coterie of high net worth individuals. He has been locked in negotiations with his bankers about some of those investments which include the Bank of Santander’s head office in Madrid, bought for €1.9bn last year and Citigroup’s high profile office in London’s Canary Wharf, bought for €1.2bn in 2007. Jurys Inns is just one aspect of the QP property investment portfolio with hotels in Britain and Ireland. It will open its first mainland European hotel in Prague in September 2009. Last night a company spokesman for the group said the "focus" in the period ahead will be in British market.
The forthcoming London Olympic Games in 2012 offers good opportunities to the group to grow further in the British market, he said. John Brennan, chief executive of the Jurys group said: "The success of this fundraising is a vote of confidence in Jury Inns’ business model and our growth plans. Despite the challenges thrown up the global economic slump we believe that our focus on superior hospitality, value for money prices and prime city centre locations positions us well both now and for the future", he said.
The group operates seven hotels in Ireland and 21 in Britain. The opening of Prague will bring its total number of rooms to almost 7,000. Established in 1993, Jurys Inns is owned by QP and the Oman Investment Fund which took a 50% stake in the group last August, an investment arm of the Sultanate of Oman.
