A private equity firm founded by Guy Hands is considering a bid for Hotel Du Vin and Malmaison, according to reports from Sky News.
Terra Firma Capital Partners, which is now run by Hands’ son, Richard, is among the suitors who have been in talks with advisers to the chain’s owner.
It is unclear how likely the deal is but should it happen it would add to a list of British assets acquired by the firm in recent times.
The firm has invested in music company EMI and care homes operator Four Seasons Health Care and Annington Homes, the former owner of thousands of Ministry of Defence homes.
More recently, it has focused on managing Hands’ family’s money, although it does still have some external investors, after he retired from his full-time roles at Terra Firma two years ago.
His wife, Julia, is chair of Hand Picked Hotels, a collection of former stately homes whose sites were acquired from Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group in 2001.
Malmaison and Hotel du Vin sit under the same ownership structure, and trades from 37 hotels in 27 UK cities, with the portfolio split almost equally between the two brands.
The two chains are now owned by Singapore-based Frasers Hospitality Group, which reportedly paid more than £360m to acquire the group in 2015.
Among the other potential bidders for the chains has been Fortress Investment Group, Sky News reported several months ago. Cushman and Wakefield, the commercial property agent, is handling the auction.
