Fortress Investment Group LLC has acquired a majority stake in Prem Group from non-executive shareholders.

According to Prem Group: “Fortress will invest alongside the existing management team, who are reinvesting the majority of their equity interests, to implement an ambitious joint business plan to grow the company through the acquisition of freehold hotel and serviced apartment properties in the UK, Ireland and continental Europe.”

Established in 1996, Prem Group owns and manages 38 hotels and serviced apartment properties in Ireland, the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Its serviced apartment properties are operated under the Premier Suites brand, which targets the corporate and extended stay market. The group also includes revenue management business RateWise, and digital marketing agency, Sprint Digital.

In Association with

Fortress manages c.$54 billion of assets on behalf of c.1,800 institutional clients and private investors worldwide across a range of credit and real estate, private equity, and permanent capital investment strategies.

Prem Group CEO Jim Murphy (pictured) commented: “The investment by Fortress will provide significant further capital for expansion, including into geographies such as Germany.

“While we have a strong balance sheet, we believed that we needed to add a tenacious equity partner in order to achieve our ambitious growth targets for the next five years.

“I would like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to the departing non-executive shareholders, some of whom have been with the company since its inception in 1996. Their support and vision have helped Prem become the success story it is today.”

Prem’s existing pipeline includes two ‘Express by Holiday Inn’ hotels which will open in Belgium in 2023.

The group’s hotel properties in Ireland are Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort, Osprey Hotel in Naas, Cahernane House Hotel Killarney, and Hoban Hotel Kilkenny. Prem Group employs c.1,100 people and is forecasting €88m turnover in 2022.