Hluhluwe & Safaris Hotel
Quoin Online, the specialised web-based property trading portal that allows buyers and sellers to transact on property through its state-of-the-art website, has been granted an exclusive mandate to dispose of five hotel properties, individually or as a collective purchase.
Quoin’s Karen Miller said, “Quoin Online will dispose of the properties via an online process and will provide all online website, digital data vaults, and systems to manage the sales process.”
The hotels form part of the Hospitality Property Fund’s (HPF) 26 hotel and resort properties, and are all part of the Protea Hospitality Group’s franchise. HPF’s strategy is to focus on hotels in large metropolitan areas, hence its decision to sell these non-core properties.
Quoin Online Director Wayne van der Vent said the decision by HPF to use Quoin reflected confidence in the business model. “The property disposal process, which we used successfully with Fountainhead Property Trust, impressed HPF,” he said. “Quoin eliminates the time-consuming process typical of multiple offers on properties—compounded when there are multiple properties on offer—and provides buyers with access to a comprehensive pack of due diligence information, which they need to make an informed decision.”
Mr Van der Vent said that the transaction methodology also allowed HPF to examine multiple offers simultaneously and enabled buyers an opportunity to revisit their initial offers.
The properties are located in medium-sized but popular destinations, four of which are in KwaZulu-Natal, and one, the 87-room Protea Hotel Hazyview, in Mpumalanga. The KZN hotels are the 70-room Imperial (Pietermaritzburg), the 135-room The Richards and the 102-room Bayshore (both in Richard’s Bay), and the 77-room Hluhluwe & Safaris. All the hotels have extensive conference and banqueting facilities.
Ms Miller said the process comprised two phases. “First, buyers must register to receive property fact sheets, an online sale process document, and a non-disclosure agreement. Those selected to participate will then have two weeks within which to make an offer, provide supporting documentation, and proof of funding for at least 40% of the purchase price.”
The submissions are reviewed and the successful participating buyers then enter the second phase, when they will be provided with the due diligence documentation. Interested parties will then have just over five weeks to submit final binding offers.
“The whole disposal process—from announcing the properties are online to the acceptance of an offer—takes just over eight weeks,” said Ms Miller. “Apart from the speed, most important is that the entire process adheres to strict corporate governance policies to ensure transparency and fair play.”
HPF Chief Executive Officer Andrew Rogers said Quoin’s innovative property portal was the ideal solution for HPF to dispose of the five hotels effectively and efficiently. “These hotels no longer fit with our core business but each one provides a wonderful business opportunity in the mid-size hotel sector. We are confident that through the combination of comprehensive, accessible information and the thorough analyses of those offers provided via Quoin, we will realise optimal market value on the properties.”
HPF, a publicly traded company listed on the JSE, provides investors with access to the hospitality sector through the ownership of select hotel and leisure properties.
