S&N ups its stake in expanding Interpub
Scottish & Newcastle is expected to lift its stake in the backpack hostel and bar group Interpub to 25% from the current level of 15% as a result of a £30m refinancing of the company.
Interpub, which has hostel sites in five countries, wants to lift turnover from £15m to around £50m with an ambitious expansion programme around the globe.
The company has been buoyed by openings in Amsterdam and Bruges in the past six months.
The 190-bed Amsterdam hostel was bought for around E8m and has seen a E600,000 investment.
The hostel, close to the
red light district, has a 95% occupancy level and its Belushi's bar has seen takings shoot up from E1,000 a week to E20,000. The venue is now valued at around E15m.
Capetown, Barcelona and New York are among the major cities where Interpub would like to open hostels. It has also acquired sites in Berlin and Paris.
Perhaps the most ambitious Interpub plan in-
volves opening an "extreme hostel" in the French ski
resort of Chamonix that would offer year-round adventure holidays.
Chief executive Keith Knowles said: "We're constantly looking for proper-
ty. We'd like another hostel
in Paris.
"We believe we can build the value of Interpub to around £100m - it's £40m now - in the next three or
four years."
Interpub is catering for the two-star hotel market but offering a broad range of price alternatives - accommodation at its Amsterdam hostel, for example, ranges from E17 to E120.
Last week Interpub revealed that it is to open a new Belushi's Bar and St Christopher's Inn in Berlin on 1 November on the site of the Circus hostel at Rosa.
