EasyHotel Chain Says It's Exploring a Sale

18.08.2024 - 16:40 / skift.com / Sean Oneill

EasyHotel confirmed it’s exploring a sale of the privately held company after a news report that it sought to be acquired.

“The board of EasyHotel Limited notes the recent media speculation and confirms that it is exploring various strategic options regarding the company, including the possible sale of the entire issued, and to be issued, share capital of the company,” the company said in a statement. It has hired Rothschild and Company to handle the deal talks.

SkyNews reported late last week that a deal could value EasyHotel at approximately half a billion dollars, or around £400 million.

EasyHotel was founded in 2004 by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, nine years after he launched the budget EasyJet airline. Today, it runs 49 hotels in 11 countries, with roughly a third in Britain. It owns 26 properties and manages the rest on behalf of third-party investors.

Today, investment firms ICAMAP and Ivanhoé Cambridge have a 79% stake. They invested shortly before the pandemic in a deal that valued the company at about $170 million. The deal sidelined Haji-Ioannou.

Private equity firm TPG and real estate fund Proprium Capital Partners are reportedly possible bidders. EasyHotel said it was in talks with “a number of potential purchasers” without specifying names.

In a statement to Skift, EasyHotels said: “As we continue to expand with new hotels, our major shareholders, ICAMAP and Ivanhoé Cambridge, are exploring new financing options to support our future growth, which may include new investors as well as other options. This is an exciting step as we prepare for our next chapter of growth.”

Karim Malak, named CEO in late 2021, told Skift last year that EasyHotel aims to poach properties from major brands like Accor and IHG by persuading owners it can generate higher returns through a stripped-down model.

EasyHotel claims to pack in 20-30% more revenue-generating guests per square meter than rivals.

“Many owners of hotel portfolios feel that they are too exposed to any given of the giant players and have mandates for diversification,” Malak said. “To pick an example at random, if you’re in a city that already has, say, six Ibises, you can’t practically add a seventh.”

EasyHotel separately appointed Gary Burton as its chief financial officer, who will start in the role on October 29. Burton will succeed Marc Vieilledent, who will become group development director.

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