Whitbread acquisition doesn’t tempt investors

The price of shares in FTSE 100 firm Whitbread (LON:WTB) dropped 5.84% to 3,836p (as of 15:20 GMT) after it announced the acquisition of a German hotel portfolio for an undisclosed sum. The package comprises of 13 open hotels and six in development, bringing Whitbread’s total open and committed pipeline hotels in the country to 52.

CEO Alison Brittain commented: “The completion of the Foremost acquisition marks an important milestone as we execute our ambitious growth plan for the Premier Inn brand in Germany. The acquired hotels are all in proven prime locations, are of high quality and will appeal to both business and leisure customers. This acquisition significantly increases our scale in Germany, taking our presence to 19 open hotels and a pipeline of 33 more across the largest cities in Germany.

“We believe the German market has many of the structural growth drivers that have underpinned the success of Premier Inn in the UK, and is a market that will deliver strong returns in the future. We will continue to look for opportunities to further accelerate the growth of our business“.