GLASGOW-based private equity house Maven, which has been increasingly active in the property sector, has completed a £13.75 million transaction to purchase an empty office building in Cardiff for conversion to a hotel.
Maven Capital Partners said the 6,000-square-metre building in the centre of the Welsh capital would be turned into a 100-bedroom Hotel Indigo with a rooftop Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill.
Hotel Indigo is the boutique brand of InterContinental Hotels Group.
The private equity house noted there were about 60 Hotel Indigos worldwide, including a "successful Glasgow property which is already part of Maven's portfolio".
Maven said its specialist property team had now led seven transactions in the last 24 months, with an aggregate transaction value of more than £50m.
These had included two hotel developments, a Travelodge in Llandudno in North Wales and an ibis Styles in Glasgow's Merchant City, as well as three student accommodation developments.
The Cardiff deal has been led by Ramsay Duff, investment director at Maven, who has secured funding previously for several other hotel development projects.
Mr Duff said: "We are delighted to have been able to identify, structure and complete another attractive hotel investment for our investors. These are complex projects."
He added: "This is a really exciting development, in one of the fastest-growing hotel markets in the UK, well located in the vibrant city centre of Cardiff and able to take advantage of the considerable tourism and leisure trade and growing commercial activity of the Welsh capital."
Maven said that funding for the project included a £5.75m equity-raising from the its UK-wide syndicate of investors and introducers.
It added that it was expected that investors would benefit from Business Premises Renovation Allowance (BPRA), a tax relief intended to stimulate investment in qualifying areas around the UK including Glasgow, Liverpool, Newcastle and Birmingham, as well as Cardiff.
Maven noted this BPRA scheme provided tax allowances for the costs of refurbishing empty commercial properties.
It added: "As well as bringing empty buildings back into use, these developments help to stimulate economic regeneration and create employment."
Chartered accountant and corporate financier Mr Duff joined Maven when the private equity house bought 100 per cent of the business of HM Corporate Solutions in late 2011.
Maven bought the firm, which had been set up about eight years previously, from founder Mr Duff and law firm Harper Macleod, his partner in the venture.
HM Corporate Solutions had raised £13m for the development of Hotel Indigo in Waterloo Street in Glasgow, which opened in April 2011.
Maven said the new hotel in Cardiff would be managed by Redefine BDL. It highlighted the hotel's proximity to the city's central business district, major attractions such as Cardiff Castle and the Millennium Stadium, and main transport links.
The private equity house said: "The Welsh Government has committed to increasing Cardiff's profile as an international business centre, promoting investment into the business infrastructure, having already undertaken a number of successful regeneration projects including Cardiff Bay.
"Cardiff is now recognised as a key UK corporate, sporting and leisure destination. In 2014, it enjoyed the largest growth in room revenues of any major UK market apart from Glasgow and the city is expected to continue to see increased demand for accommodation."
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