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Iconic Rusacks Hotel in St Andrews to be sold to ‘major, heavyweight investor’

Rusacks Hotel in St Andrews, which overlooks the final hole of the Old Course.
Rusacks Hotel in St Andrews, which overlooks the final hole of the Old Course.

Rusacks Hotel, which overlooks the 18th green at the Old Course in St Andrews, is to be sold to a private equity firm in a multi-million pound deal.

The iconic Fife hotel is part of a portfolio of 27 hotels to be sold by Macdonald Hotels and Resorts.

The group has signed heads of terms and is in confidential and exclusive talks with a major private equity and real estate investor.

The sale price has not been disclosed but Macdonald said it would leave its remaining, substantial business entirely debt-free.

The firm’s bank debt currently stands at £190 million.

The sale, which should completed by the end of August, also includes Loch Rannoch Hotel in Perthshire.

Group’s founder and executive chairman Donald Macdonald said: “It’s been 30 years since I started the business along with my fellow board members Gerry Smith and Gordon Fraser.

“I am extremely grateful to have led a team of talented and hardworking people who have built such a significant business, but it’s now the right time to move onto the next stage of the journey.”

The portfolio also includes five-star rated properties Randolph Hotel in Oxford and Bath Spa and The Compleat Angler, located on the banks of the River Thames in Marlow.

The retained business will continue with 11 hotel properties, including the Aviemore Highland Resort, four Monument Leisure hotels and nine Macdonald Resorts located in the UK and Spain.

Gordon Fraser, deputy chairman and group managing director, said the firm had appointed Deloitte to lead the sales process after receiving a “steady stream” of serious approaches from the Far East, US and UK, including b pension funds.

He said: “Over the past three decades, we’ve received numerous offers for the business and their frequency has increased considerably over the past year.

“We are very pleased to have entered a 10-week exclusivity period with a major, heavyweight investor to allow final due diligence and legal work to be completed with the transaction to conclude by the end of August.

“The preferred bidder fits superbly with our ongoing aspirations for the hotels and they will bring significant investment and expansion of the portfolio.”

The deal will enable Macdonald Hotels to repay its current Bank of Scotland debt and invest in its remaining properties.

Newly filed annual accounts for Macdonald Hotels show the firm’s turnover fell by £1m to £153.2m for the year ending 29 March 2018.

The group made a pre-tax loss of £1.1m which was partly due to a £6.6m write-down of the value of its Crutherland Hotel.

rmclaren@thecourier.co.uk