Latest Press Releases

<< < Press release 19 of 109 > >>

14 Nov 2008
Ref: Gla1519

Cracking deal as the ‘Egg’ completes

68/53727 The Eglinton Arms

“The recent sale of the Eglinton Arms Hotel, Gilmour Street, Eaglesham, Glasgow, ‘flies in the face’ of the negativity that is being created and portrayed in today’s market” says Brian Sheldon, Director of Christie + Co. Commercial pubs and hotels that are sensibly priced continue to sell and there are still well funded buyers around.”

Brian continued: “In recent months much has been quoted and publicised about the distressed state of the commercial property market and, in particular, the sale of licensed premises. Whilst this may be true, in part, there is still much to shout about that is positive which should inspire confidence in those operators contemplating selling their businesses.”

The Eglinton Arms Hotel in Eaglesham has been sold on behalf of Messrs Bavaird and Keenan to the Garfield Hotel Limited, who also operates the Garfield Hotel in Glasgow as well as the Moorings House Hotel in Motherwell, both of which are extremely popular venues.

Like any sales process, irrespective of market conditions, there are a number of key factors which will determine whether a business will sell or not.

Firstly there needs to be a “willing seller” and in this case Messrs Bavaird and Keenan, after initially considering leasing part of the Eglinton Arms, decided to listen to offers for the entire hotel operation. During the process, even in these troubled times, we received a number of genuine enquiries from a targeted sales process which resulted in several viewings taking place leading to a number of unsuccessful bids being submitted.

The second fundamental factor is that there is a “willing buyer”. When we drew up the potential targeted list of buyers, Garfield Hotel Limited were high on the list due to the principal Director being Mr Trevor Paterson. Trevor, who successfully operates two other hotels in Glasgow and Motherwell, managed the Eglinton Arms Hotel for Thistle Hotels from 1971 through to 1991 and therefore knows the business and the area. Negotiations were entered into and a deal was struck within a relatively short period of time. Mr Paterson plans to totally renovate the hotel with an investment close to £1.25 million.

The third area of significant importance is bank support. Much has been said about “banks not lending” and if that were the case this, as well as many other deals that are currently taking place, would not have happened. Whilst lending criteria is more stringent, there are still a number of banks that are prepared to look at funding commercially viable businesses to credible buyers who make a reasonable investment. It is also worthwhile mentioning that it is important that, as banks will require a business appraisal to be conducted in advance of supporting any proposal, it is vital that the valuation is conducted by surveyors who can demonstrate experience and knowledge of the particular sector.

The fourth key component in completing the transaction is the legal process. Once again it is crucial that the solicitors appointed have knowledge and experience of the commercial conveyancing process in order that the deal can be concluded and indeed completed within an acceptable timescale.

From receiving an acceptable offer within three months of instruction, the sales process for the Eglinton Arms Hotel had all of the above ingredients, which enabled the process to be completed, from the offer stage to the date of completion, within six weeks – hardly depressing!