£195M Loan From U.S. Big Beasts Is Vote Of Confidence For Hospitality Sector

Brookfield-backed hospitality brand edyn has secured a £195M loan from a pair of U.S. private equity firms, a transaction it said is a vote of confidence for the hospitality sector. 

Blackstone and KSL Capital Partners have provided the debt facility to the company, which has an aparthotel brand called Locke and a serviced apartment brand called Cove. The facility contributes to the funding arrangements on five projects comprising 859 units across The Hague (Cove – Centrum), London (Bermonds Locke, Buckle Street Studios and Cove – Landmark Pinnacle) and Cambridge (Turing Locke/Hyatt Centric).

The debt facility is one of the largest to be extended in the European hospitality sector since before the coronavirus pandemic, as investors and lenders look to tap into a recovery in the leisure travel sector. 

Earlier this week, edyn announced it had acquired a project in The Hague, which will be the first scheme to operate under its newly launched Cove brand in mainland Europe. Formerly a 118-key hotel, the asset will be converted to 121 serviced apartments and is expected to open in March 2022.

Edyn’s recent signing with Chalegrove to operate 162 Cove-serviced apartments in the Landmark Pinnacle development in Canary Wharf, London, also forms part of the deal with Blackstone and KSL. Cove – Landmark Pinnacle will open this November and occupy the first 10 floors of the 75-storey residential building.

Turing Locke/Hyatt Centric, built in the sustainable new district of Eddington in Cambridge, is due to open next month. It will become the 11th Locke aparthotel in Europe, comprising 180 keys and offering studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments, a restaurant, a cocktail bar, a coffee shop, retail space, coworking facilities, meeting rooms and an event space.

Buckle Street Studios by Locke, in Aldgate in east London, will open this October, comprising 103 keys over a 12-storey new development adjacent to the first Locke, Leman Locke, which opened in 2016.

“The pandemic reaffirmed that edyn’s products and strategy are meeting the growing demand for high-quality aparthotels and extended stay facilities,” said edyn Investment Director Merzak Kaddour.