The Dubai-based private equity firm, Dubai International Capital (DIC), is reportedly weighing options to publicly list the Britain-based budget hotel operator 'Travelodge' as part of its strategy to exit the enterprise in three to five years.
DIC bought Travelodge for £675 million (Dh4.66 billion), and is reportedly anticipating a 20 per cent return on its investment annually, according to Gulf News.
Speaking of the potential to list Travelodge publicly, DIC's senior vice-president and head of direct investments, Sylvain Denis, told reporters: "Definitely in three to five years Travelodge will be a sizable player in the market and would be a great candidate for an IPO."
Denis explained that Travelodge had been acquired as a result of the company's success in the UK budget hotel market.
"A listing is very likely to be a logical route for our exit but this is still quite a long way and a lot of things can happen (before that)."
"We believe that the business model Travelodge is putting in with its pricing strategy and the management team it has in place gives it a great opportunity to become the market leader in the UK," he added.
"The UK budget hotel market has great potential. It is underdeveloped in comparison to France and some other countries," said Denis.
