Thackeray Group and Align Partners form GBP120m hospitality real estate partnership - Thackeray Group, a real estate investment, development and asset management company owned by Antony Alberti and Brett Palos, has formed a GBP120 million hospitality real estate partnership with Align Partners, a hospitality sector investment and asset management specialist headed by Chris King.

The partnership will work with key investors, including family offices, institutions and private equity firms. The partnership, Thackeray Align, will acquire and manage individual hotels, resorts and platforms in key catchment areas in the UK and Ireland.

It expects most investments will be through outright purchases, although it will consider a preferred equity position or working alongside existing owners as joint venture partners. It is in advanced discussions regarding the acquisition of several properties with a value in excess of GBP120 million, including several repositioning opportunities.

Thackeray Align brings together the financial muscle of Thackeray and the hospitality and project management expertise of Align. Thackeray has a strong track record in generating significant returns from repositioning city centre properties through its Thackeray Asset Management business. Align was set up in 2009 as a specialist real estate investment and asset management platform, focused on the hospitality, healthcare and alternative sectors by Chris King, the former group managing director of London & Regional Properties. It has successfully completed a number of repositioning projects, including the Doubletree by Hilton Docklands Riverside Hotel, Croydon Park Hotel and Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa, and is currently asset managing the Morrison hotel in Dublin.

Antony Alberti, CEO and co-founder of Thackeray Group, says: “We believe this is an opportune time to be investing in the UK hospitality market in partnership with one of the most experienced and entrepreneurial companies in the sector.”

Chris King, founder of Align Partners, says: “Extreme circumstances have impacted hospitality real estate, both short-term resulting from the pandemic and numerous lockdowns and long-term due to a more systematic and longstanding shift in consumer trends. “Either way, given the combined skill sets of the two teams and Thackeray’s financial strength, the changing market dynamics bring exceptional repositioning and repurposing opportunities for us to create significant value.”

The partnership will not impact on Align’s third-party asset management mandates, such as the Morrison in Dublin, and its pipeline of similar asset management and advisory assignments.