Our Commercial Real Estate department at JMW deals with a number of high value hotel acquisitions and sales, one being the purchase of Inglewood Manor for our leisure operator client, Boutique Hotel Group Limited (BHG). The property is a country manor located in Cheshire. Boutique Hotel Group also own the well-known Peckforton Castle and Nunsmere Hall and we have similarly advised on those respective transactions over the past few years.

The Transaction

The Inglewood transaction was led by our corporate team, as it involved BHG acquiring the corporate entity by way of a share purchase agreement (SPA). We dealt with the property due diligence which involved:

• Reviewing the freehold and leasehold title to the property and the associated documents– one being a fishing agreement for use of the lake at the property. If any covenants or rights appear in our title reviews that may prejudice the ability to develop in the future, we will consider this in detail and advise accordingly, whether that be obtaining an indemnity policy (as was in this case) or seeking a release;
• Reviewing the SPA in so far as it related to the property element for the sale and purchase of the entire issued share capital;
• Raising any necessary enquiries and reviewing the replies;
• Obtaining searches and reviewing those results;
• There was a lender on this transaction and so replied to their enquiries throughout;
• Producing a final report on title.

The land included three residential properties – two cottages and one detached house and we carried out due diligence separately on those properties which included a review of the leases and ASTs. The intention was always to sell those cottages in the future and so we considered the ability to mortgage those properties and bear in mind what information we would require to set up those sales. We have recently been instructed to sell those residential properties for the client.   

Transactions such as this may also require specialist advise including planning and in some instances, construction. Here at JMW we have a planning lawyer and construction team to advise on those specialist areas. We have 50 + employees within our commercial real estate department, specialising in acquisitions, disposals, development, and property management to name a few.

Summary

If you are looking to acquire a property in the hotel or leisure industry, part with a hotel or leisure property or business or are looking to develop part of your estate, contact our Commercial Real Estate department who have the knowledge and capability in this area to deal with the transaction in a straightforward manner. Below is a testimonial received from the managing director of Boutique Hotel Group.

Just wanted to take this opportunity to thank every single one of you for all of your efforts and advice on this transaction, which has been extremely difficult at times. I can honestly say you all have gone above and beyond for us, working extremely long hours, driving this deal through. I am really happy to have moved over to JMW as its been a real pleasure working with you all. Rick and I were in the car on the way home last night talking about some of our past legal experiences over the years and it is fair to say this has been the smoothest client lawyer relationship we have had, everyone has been on the same page from the off and even with some of the difficult lawyers and parties we have stuck together as a team and made it work.

Very much looking forward to working with you all in the future. ​​​​