Whitbread would look at Travelodge

23rd Jun 2010 07:58

Premier Inn owner Whitbread would be interested in snapping up rival low-budget hotel chain Travelodge were its owners to put it up for sale, newspaper reports suggest.Dubai International Capital, the private equity firm that owns Travelodge, is rumoured to be considering selling off some of its assets in order to reduce debt, and the combination of Travelodge and Premier Inn makes a lot of sense.Travelodge has more than 390 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain while the Premier Inn chain is 580 strong.Alan Parker, chief executive of Whitbread, was reported as saying that the company would look at Travelodge, or any competitor, were it to come up for sale, but any decision to pull the trigger on a deal would depend on the selling price.Costa Coffee shops owner Whitbread released a strong trading update on Tuesday in which it reported a strong performance by Premier Inn, with sales up 14.1% during the 13 weeks to 3 June, with like for like revenues rising 10.5%.Like for like (LFL) revenue per available room (RevPAR) at the hotel chain was up 9.1%, as customers snapped up offers and cut-price weekend packages and as market conditions improved. The upturn in LFL RevPAR was the first positive quarter for the chain in 18 months.