International hospitality operator PREM Group has secured a major new investment from funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC (“Fortress”), who have acquired a majority stake in the business through an off-market acquisition of interests held by non-executive shareholders. Fortress will invest alongside the existing management team, who are reinvesting the majority of their equity interests, to implement an ambitious joint business plan to grow the company through the acquisition of freehold hotel and serviced apartment properties in the UK, Ireland and continental Europe. The expansion of PREMIER SUITES into target cities across Europe will be one of the top priorities for the group.
Established in 1996, the Dublin-headquartered PREM Group leases, owns and manages 38 hotels and serviced apartment properties in Ireland, the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Its fifteen serviced apartment properties are operated under the group’s own PREMIER SUITES brand, which targets the corporate and extended stay market and has demonstrated resilience throughout the COVID period. PREM Group is also the parent company to several business units which include revenue management business RateWise, and digital marketing agency Sprint Digital.
Founded in 1998, Fortress manages approximately $53.9 billion of assets on behalf of approximately 1,800 institutional clients and private investors worldwide across a range of credit and real estate, private equity, and permanent capital investment strategies.
Jim Murphy, CEO of PREM Group said, “The investment by Fortress Investment Group will provide significant further capital for expansion, including into geographies such as Germany in which the group is not currently present. Fortress recognise that we already have a strong regional presence across Europe underpinned by a team of dynamic hospitality experts who are primed for future growth. While we have a strong balance sheet, we believed that we needed to add a tenacious equity partner in order to achieve our ambitious growth targets for the next five years. PREM Group has a proven track record for operating in the hospitality space and it is these credentials that made us an attractive business for Fortress to invest in.” He went on to say, “I would like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to the departing non-executive shareholders, some of whom have been with the company since its inception in 1996. Their support and vision have helped PREM become the success story it is today.”
Commercial Director and Chief Financial Officer of PREM Group, Stephen Loftus said, “Our plans for growth are already well underway. We are in advanced negotiations on several opportunities in our target markets for our PREMIER SUITES serviced apartments and limited-service hotels. These deals will compliment PREM Group’s existing pipeline which includes two ‘Express by Holiday Inn’ hotels which will open in Belgium in 2023.”
Cyril Courbage, Managing Director and Robert Miles, Director, Fortress Investment Group added: “We are very excited about our investment in PREM Group, and look forward to working with Jim, Stephen and the rest of the management team to build upon the solid foundations they have laid. We are particularly enthusiastic about partnering with them to grow their market leading serviced apartments business, which we consider to be a resilient and rapidly institutionalising segment of the market. We plan to invest significant further capital in further acquisitions in this sector and others, across the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe.”
