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The Hut Group Limited (THG), the online beauty wellbeing retailer, has announced the acquisition of Eclectic Hotel Group, comprising of the luxury boutique hotels: King Street Townhouse and Great John Street Hotel.
Located in Manchester city centre, the high-end boutique hotels provide 70 rooms in total, combined with award-winning events and entertaining space. The Eclectic Hotel Group was acquired from founders Eamonn and Sally O’Loughlin (group interior designer), who will continue to own and manage Didsbury House Hotel and Eleven Didsbury Park, both of which were hived out the Eclectic Group prior to completion of the deal.
THG said the acquisition demonstrates the group’s “innovative approach to effective engagement with consumers in both the online and offline environment”. As such, the hotels will form part of THG’s growing marketing infrastructure that delivers enhanced consumer experiences, influencer and brand-led events as well as content creation.
The acquisition marks the THG second outing into the hotel sector after it acquired the Hale Country Club and Spa back in July 2016. The investment into the hotels will also be supported by a £10m refurbishment upgrade plan.
Matthew Moulding, founder and CEO of The Hut Group, said: “We are delighted with this recent acquisition, which comes at an exciting time for THG.
“As a fast-growing, brand-led business we are always looking to develop innovative approaches to drive greater engagement with our customers and today’s acquisition is testament to that strategy. With consumer behaviour continuing to evolve away from the traditional high street setting, these two highly prestige hotels will be instrumental in showcasing our leading beauty and wellbeing brands.”
Eamonn O’Loughlin, founder of the Eclectic Hotel Group, added: “Without the support and commitment of our many fantastic employees over the past 20 years none of this would have been possible. A massive thank you to them. While it has been a difficult decision for us to take, we feel both hotels are going into the best of hands with Matthew and his team and we are extremely proud of the portfolio that we have built over the years.”
THG was advised by KPMG for financial due diligence, Deloitte for tax due diligence and Gowling WLG for legals. The vendors were advised by Convex Capital and Freeman Fisher.
