CDL Hospitality Trust makes maiden Europe foray with $135.3m hotel acquisition

It will be fully funded by debt.

CDL Hospitality Trust has inked a $135.3m (GBP 62.5m) share purchase agreement to fully acquire the owner of Cambridge City Hotel, a newly refurbished property in the United Kingdom.

This marks CDLHT’s maiden foray into Europe and the UK hospitality market, and would be fully funded by GBP-denominated debt.

The deal will cause CDLHT’s gearing to increase from 32% to 35.8%.

Cambridge City Hotel is a newly-refurbished upper upscale hotel offering 198 rooms and a comprehensive suite of facilities.

It underwent a $17.8m (£8.2m) refurbishment, which was completed just in April 2015.

“This acquisition in Cambridge, UK, is in line with our strategy to invest in markets with good growth potential. Cambridge has been one of the strongest performing hospitality markets in UK and the burgeoning life science cluster will support the growth trajectory of the market. This acquisition of Cambridge City Hotel is a rare opportunity for us to acquire a prime asset in a tightly held investment market,” said CDLHT CEO Vincent Yeo.