Secure Income REIT (SIR) has released a statement with respect to Travelodge, the budget hotel chain. We note that it was reported over the weekend that Travelodge had appointed advisers to oversee discussions with its landlords over rent breaks or deferrals. The hotel company fears it will run out of cash before hotels can re-open their doors.
Travelodge is owned by Goldman Sachs and US hedge funds
“SIR has noted recent press coverage about Travelodge and confirms that further to its announcement of 6 April 2020, the outstanding quarter’s rent due from Travelodge amounts to 6.4% of the company’s annual rental income.
Discussions with Travelodge’s senior team have been ongoing for a number of weeks and while they have yet to provide any proposals for dealing with the outstanding amounts due, they have indicated that a plan should be forthcoming.
While we are extremely aware of and sensitive to the challenges facing so many businesses today in this unprecedented pandemic, Travelodge has over 580 hotels with more than 44,500 rooms and recently reported record earnings of £129.1m with net debt of circa £311m. It is owned by large, multinational investment businesses in Goldman Sachs, Avenue Capital and GoldenTree. We are disappointed and surprised that they have not yet presented a proposal.
In light of this, SIR has already reluctantly initiated actions to recover this debt, but remains hopeful that this matter can still be settled prior to those options being fully pursued.”
SIR: Secure Income REIT responds to reports Travelodge is seeking rent breaks from landlords
All Travelodge Landlords are invited to join the discussion at http://www.travelodgeowners.co.uk