Real estate investor LondonMetric Property Plc has snapped up nine Premier Inn hotels from Whitbread for £89m, making the hospitality group the fourth-largest occupier of LondonMetric assets.
The 955-bedroom portfolio, which is focused around the South East of England, generates an annual rent of £5.0m with five-yearly inflation-linked rent reviews, and is let on new 30-year leases.
The deal takes LondonMetric's total annual rents from Whitbread to £11.3m, accounting for 2.7% of the REIT's total rent.
"This transaction adds high quality and mission critical assets that generate a long, strong and growing NNN income in a sector that continues to benefit from evolving consumer preferences for travel, entertainment and experience," said LondonMetric's chief executive Andrew Jones.
NNN refers to 'triple net lease', an investment model where the tenant is responsible for most of a property's operating costs, including property taxes, insurance and maintenance.
"It follows on from our recent £44 million hotel portfolio acquisition from Whitbread and increases our ownership to 22 modern Premier Inn hotels."