THE sale of Edinburgh’s famous Caley Hotel helped drive to nearly £400 million the value of hotel deals concluded in Scotland in the first half of the year, nearly double the total recorded in 2017.
Figures from property firm Savills reveal that £389.7m was invested across 10 hotel deals over the period. Activity was led by the £85m acquisition of the Caledonian Waldorf Astoria by Middle East investment firm Twenty14 Holdings from an unnamed financial institution in January. It was the biggest hotel deal in Scotland since Gleneagles changed hands in 2015.
The near-£400m of deals seen in the first half was almost double the value of transactions recorded last year, which Savills put at £195m. Most of the transactions were in the £1m-£10m price bracket.
Collectively, buyers from countries overseas accounted for most of the deals, though the UK was the single biggest source of investment. Savills said UK buyers were responsible for 41 per cent of deal activity, followed by investors from the Middle East (22%), Israel (16%), the US (8%), Canada (7%), Singapore (5%) and Germany (1%).
Steve Fyfe, associate director at Savills’ hotel team in Glasgow, said: “Investment volumes continue to build on the strong level of appetite we witnessed last year as we find ourselves already surpassing last year’s total annual volume at the half year point.
“The spotlight is still firmly fixed on Scotland for hotel operators and investors. Existing brands are looking to increase their representation in the country and new entrants are seeking to secure a foothold in the market.”
Savills’ research shows £3.2 billion of hotel deals were concluded across the UK as a whole in the first half, meaning Scotland accounted for 13% of the value of investment made.
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