British banking group "Royal Bank of Scotland" Plc (RBS), controlled by the state, took over 42 hotels which American company "Marriott" owns in Great Britain, due to company"s failure to restructure one of its largest real estate loans completed in the property boom, Financial Times (FT) informs, without disclosing any source.
According to FT, RBS appointed consulting firm "Ernst & Young" as receiver for a real estate portfolio of 1 billion pounds, (1.64 billion dollars), made up of 42 hotels, which was acquired in 2007 from RBS, by Igal Ahouvi, Quinlan Private and Delek Real Estate.
The "Marriott" portfolio includes 42 4- and 5-star hotels in England, Scotland and Wales, with approximately 8,000 rooms and represents one of the largest seizures of real estate properties in the history of the bank. The hotels are operated by "Marriott International" Inc., according to a 30-year management agreement, which began in 2006.
Marriott International Inc. will continue to operate the hotels, and RBS" decision will not affect customers, suppliers or staff at the hotels.
RBS holds about 700 million pounds of the debt that was used to finance the acquisition in a syndicated loan structure,
The Royal Bank of Scotland had been in talks since 2008 to restructure the debt. According to the FT, the talks failed, meaning that this week RBS was forced to appoint a receiver.
RBS refused to issue any statements concerning the information which was published by the FT.
Alina Vasiescu (Translated by Cosmin Ghidoveanu) British banking group "Royal Bank of Scotland" Plc (RBS), controlled by the state, took over 42 hotels which American company "Marriott" owns in Great Britain, due to company"s failure to restructure one of its largest real estate loans completed in the property boom, Financial Times (FT) informs, without disclosing any source. @N_
