Travelodge owners eye £1.2bn price tag for budget hotel chain

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The owners of Travelodge are reportedly mulling buying £40m of hotels from their landlords, fuelling speculation the business could be sold.
The owners of Travelodge are reportedly mulling buying £40m of hotels from their landlords, fuelling speculation the business could be sold.

Budget hotel chain Travelodge will be put up for sale with a price tag of over £1bn as its owners look to cash in the recovery of the travel sector post-pandemic. 

Its owner of nearly a decade, American asset management firm Goldentree is said to be in talks with investment banks to explore a potential sale of the chain, with sources telling The Sunday Times that it is gunning for a £1.2bn offer for the 595 hotels. 

Travelodge, which is headed by retail and leisure veteran Jo Boydell, has seen profits surge over the last year as Brits have carried on the trend of ‘staycations’ following the pandemic. 

In its latest financial results, it said revenues were 25 per cent up from 2019 to £909.9m, while pre-tax earnings for the year increased by £83.8m to £212.9m.

In August, the group also opened its first new-build budget luxury hotel in London Docklands, as it looked to expand its ‘budget-luxe’ upgrade program.

Travelodge has changed hands over a number of occasions since it opened its first UK location in 1985. 

It was part of British conglomerate Granada Group and later acquired by private equity firm Permia in 2003 before being sold to Dubai International Capital for £675m in 2006.  It was then taken over by GoldenTree in 2012.

City A.M. has contacted Golden Tree and Travelodge for a comment.