HBOS extends hotel loan
A CASHFLOW crisis threatening luxury hotel group the Rocco Forte Collection has been averted by a £300m loan extension from HBOS, part of Lloyds Banking Group.
The 18-month extension, which pre-empts a long-term solution, follows urgent talks between owner Sir Rocco Forte and the bank, the Times reported.
It is understood the hotel group, whose flagship London property is Brown’s, faced a downturn in trade that put its joint venture with HBOS in breach of financial covenants. The shared deal involves seven of the Rocco Forte Collection’s 13 hotels.
Although the main company was trading within its covenants, a source said the talks had comprised the whole £300m loan — split roughly two thirds in the joint venture and a third in the main group — after it was decided that the two were “inextricably linked”.