Hallmark Hotels has been sold by its private equity owners to Topland.
Palatine Private Equity and Bridgepoint Development Capital (BDC) both invested GBP9.4 million for a 78% stake in the hotel firm back in 2007, which is now part of the Topland Group that has a total of 30 hotels including Menzies Hotels, several Hilton properties and the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath.
Hallmark was set up in 2007 to help three-star hotels and now has eight properties in Manchester, Hull, Bournemouth, Croydon, Derby, Gloucester and Carlisle.
Hallmark’s chief executive Arnold Schnegg and finance director James Hawksworth have both left the business as part of the sale, while Palatine partners Gary Tipper and Ed Fazakerley are on the board with BDC partner Mark Stroud.
Fazakerley said: “Hallmark’s success was achieved through a robust acquisition strategy, driven by a talented and committed management team. The UK hotel market has faced challenging times, but through focus on providing a high quality product combined with significant operational improvements and a coherent sales strategy, we have built an impressive chain of four star hotels. It has been a pleasure working with the management team over the years and we’re pleased to have secured a good return for our investors.”
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