Travelodge is reportedly stepping up its UK expansion in the build-up to the 2012 London Olympics by raising more than $163 million for new hotels.
The fund is being created by Twenty10 Fund Management, a new investment vehicle run by Christopher Stainforth. It aims is to build five hotels every year in UK cities, which Travelodge will occupy on leases of 25 to 35 years.
Twenty10 will raise $81.5 million of equity plus $81.5 of bank debt and will manage the fund, which has a seven-year life.
The move comes as the company, which is owned by Dubai International Capital, aims to increase its share in the UK budget hotel market from roughly one third. In the past eight years, it said that the UK budget hotel sector had seen growth three times greater than the overall UK hotel market.
Travelodge has been using the downturn as opportunity expand, including raising funds to buy struggling hotels.
