Hotel du Vin and Malmaison sold to KSL

UK hotel brands Hotel du Vin and Malmaison have been bought by Denver-based private equity group KSL in a deal said to be worth close to £200m.

Hotel du Vin, Bristol

The brands’ parent company MWB Group went into administration last November, but Malmaison Group’s 27 hotels were unaffected by the move.

KSL said it will keep management in place and will invest in the brands, examining how to expand both brands in the UK and abroad.

“We will look at where we can invest money. Our intention is to be market leader in boutique and town house hotels,” Malmaison’s chief executive Gary Davis told The Financial Times.

Davis said revenues and earnings had “performed extremely well”, and that the level of trading had encouraged bids for the group.

“We have actually come through it quite well. The banks kept a lot of faith with us,” Davis told the FT.

New owners KSL want to see growth in the UK and to position the brands in new markets.

The US private equity group owns several golf and ski resorts in the America, a chain of fitness clubs in California and the Belfry golf resort in Warwickshire, which it bought last year for over £60m.

“We will look at where the brands could be successful outside of the UK in mainland Europe,” Davis said.

Richard Weissmann of KSL added: “With an exceedingly loyal following, we believe each brand has tremendous potential for further growth and expansion.”