L+R integrates, creates powerhouse

LONDON – You might know London and Regional Group, London and Regional Properties, L+R Hotels, or even HB Titan private credit. They were founded by billionaire brothers Ian and Richard Livingstone in 1987 and have forever remained fragmented and siloed businesses – until now. Under Cody Bradshaw, CEO - Hotels at the newly named L+R, the family office has reached a level of scale where potential is going to meet opportunity by coming together as a global investment group.

Today, London and Regional, with a £10 billion-plus wholly owned real estate portfolio, is announcing a strategic transformation and a vertically integrated operating platform to drive global growth, including a new hospitality operating platform that can scale and partner with investors in what Bradshaw calls “unmatched alignment.”

Cody Bradshaw, CEO - Hotels at L+R

L+R, the new corporate identity, brings the firm’s four distinct verticals: hotels, commercial real estate, private credit, and ventures under a single brand, aligning the organization for its next phase of growth. Together, L+R has about 112 hotels today, according to Bradshaw, with about 23,000 keys across 11 countries.

Bradshaw outlined the transformation, especially on the hotel side, in an interview with Hotel Investment Today:

• They are the only player in the market with access to significant discretionary capital combined with two in-house hotel operating platforms (newly named Iconic Hotels & Resorts and Atlas Hotels).
• They provide in-house execution capabilities and a 30-year track record across multiple geographies and asset classes (both debt and equity).
• They offer ‘unmatched alignment of interest’ via our willingness and ability to invest meaningful equity alongside strategic capital partners (well in excess of industry standard norms for GP’s and operating partners).
• This unique hybrid capital and operating partner model puts them in a position to disrupt the traditional industry models and competitive landscape and become the partner of choice to major institutional investors.

The new Iconic Hotels & Resorts has been created through the merger of Iconic Luxury Hotels and L&R Hotels. Iconic will serve as L+R’s dedicated, fully integrated operating platform, responsible for supporting acquisition due diligence/underwriting, platform creation and managing and enhancing the value of L+R’s owned global hotel portfolio.

Iconic Hotels & Resorts already operates across five countries, with numerous landmark urban hotels and resorts including Excelsior Venice Lido (Italy), Nobu Portman Square (London), Marriott Brussels Grand Place, Palm House (Palm Beach) and Cliveden House (U.K.).

A lot of these institutional investors, instead of going into general opportunity funds, are looking for sector specific specialists that they can partner with on a programmatic, scalable investment strategy. And we’re offering just that.

Cody Bradshaw

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As part of this launch, Iconic Hotels & Resorts is unveiling its new global headquarters located in central London, comprising over 7,000 square feet of workspace. The headquarters unites nearly 100 in-house experts across Commercial, Operations, F&B, IT, and HR along with an expansive, new in-house interior design studio and project management division.

Atlas Hotels, L+R’s select-service platform and largest Holiday Inn Express franchisee in Europe, will continue to be operated on a stand-alone basis by the 75-person team, led by CEO Sean Lowe, based in Leicester, U.K. The Atlas portfolio currently accounts for some 60 hotels with 7,555 rooms.

Significant investments have also been made across L+R and Iconic Hotels & Resorts to create an upgraded tech stack, including new distribution architecture, business intelligence, accounting, treasury, procurement, payroll and labor management.

To help lead the platform, L+R is also announcing the appointment of Shan Kanagasingham as chief operating officer of Iconic Hotels & Resorts.  Most recently, she spearheaded the growth of Auberge Resorts Collection from just seven properties to 40 open and under development globally.

In this role, Kanagasingham will oversee operations across the global platform and lead implementation of Iconic Hotels & Resorts’ guest-experience and value-creation strategies, working closely with L+R’s leadership and capital partners.

The game plan

“We have the ability and opportunity to really disrupt this traditional GP operating partner model through this rare combination of discretionary capital coupled with our operating platforms, offering that true alignment of interest,” said Bradshaw, who joined L+R in October 2024 after spending 13 year with Starwood Capital.

Iconic Hotels & Resorts includes the Fairmont Monte Carlo

“I’m having conversations with leading private equity groups and sovereign wealth funds as we’ve reached this point in our evolution where we have this platform that we can leverage and then grow through strategic partnerships,” Bradshaw continued. “A lot of these institutional investors, instead of going into general opportunity funds, are looking for sector specific specialists that they can partner with on a programmatic, scalable investment strategy. And we’re offering just that… We can align ourselves with these capital partners. But instead of investing, 1% or 5% we can invest 20%, 30%, 40% or 50% and provide the platform. This changes the conversations.”

Bradshaw foresees both single asset and portfolio deals for L+R with the potential to aggregate several single assets throughout the year. “We have a larger one tied up now that’s about £70 million. If we do a few of those in the year, that’s a decent number, but certainly we’re going to be looking to go after the bigger ticket opportunities,” he said.

Bradshaw referenced public-to-private situations and private equity groups looking to exit portfolios and platforms as potential targets.

“When the capital partner goes to their IC with an operating partner that’s willing to stand behind the business plan and the pro forma with a very meaningful equity check alongside them, it can disrupt,” he said. “There’s a portfolio for sale in Europe right now and we’re in conversations with all the major players. We’re happy to invest 20% up to 50% alongside them… It completely changes the dynamics in terms of the alignment of interest. So, that’s where I think we have a real opportunity.”

The U.S. right now is a place L+R sees products and places to invest in, Bradshaw added.

You obviously have a number of REITs that are under pressure to sell. You have private equity… We are definitely putting ourselves in a position to be very active and competitive in the U.S. We think that the timing may be right sooner rather than later after a period of being quite patient on the sidelines.

Cody Bradshaw

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“We were unapologetic about not being overly active in the U.S. in recent years on the acquisition side,” Bradshaw added. “The fundamentals have obviously been choppy, and all signs point to patience – that there may be some correction and distress that would appear. You obviously have a number of REITs that are under pressure to sell. You have private equity…  We are definitely putting ourselves in a position to be very active and competitive in the U.S. We think that the timing may be right sooner rather than later after a period of being quite patient on the sidelines.”

As for the Atlas portfolio, Bradshaw said it will remain a distinct, pure play, U.K.-centric select-service platform.

“We may look to create an Atlas 2.0 to target opportunities in Germany and Southern Europe, but we haven’t really gotten there yet,” Bradshaw explained.

In the private credit space, L+R has been most successful with what Bradshaw calls a “rifle shot approach” to specific situations that and prominent single assets where the capital stack is broken in some way, and maybe there’s risk related to that sponsors business plan.

He expects to become more active in this space taking junior tranches, stepping into the first loss position. “With our in-house platform and our track record, it adds real credibility,” he said.

One more area of opportunity for L+R could be as a third-party hotel manager on a selective bases where it is accretive to the vision and the portfolio – it’s quality over quantity.

Bradshaw talked about competing with the likes of Preferred Hotels and Leading Hotels with the ability to offer a lot more services in terms of marketing, revenue management, their commercial platform, which Bradshaw said is something they are creating “far beyond a traditional hotel commercial platform.”

AUO game

As for how aggressive L+R will be in the marketplace, Bradshaw said “aggressiveness is not a term that we use. We’re not in the AUM game, and we never will be. We’re in the AUO game – assets under ownership. So, every investment is very personal to us, and we’re investing our personal capital.”

That’s not going to change whether L+R investing 20% or 100%, according to Bradshaw. “So, the disciplined nature of our investment and keeping in mind our reason for creating this global investment platform that puts us in a position to be the more logical partner with major institutions and buyers of platforms is primarily to deploying our own capital,” he said. “It’s not to create discretionary fund business or managing a fee business. It’s to deploy our own capital. From that standpoint, we’re going to stay true to our ethos and values on very disciplined investing.”

The Palm House in Palm Beach, Florida, is the debut U.S. property for L+R.

Bradshaw added that the Livingstone brothers are fully on board with this plan.

“They have built, over 30 years, one of the more remarkable private real estate portfolios in the world,” Bradshaw said. “This evolution is a natural next step for this platform, and this is very much what they want to see happen with the business.”

With a new c-suite leadership team in place that comes from private equity and fund management backgrounds, Bradshaw said they are well positioned to execute on the plan.

“But the brothers’ support has made all the difference in the world and everything that we’re doing and creating – institutionalizing the platform, professionalizing the platform – has been one of my biggest mandates over the last 12 months,” he continued. “This has been essentially one of the more intense corporate transformation repositioning projects of my career. And it wouldn’t have happened without shared vision and support from the brothers along the way.”

Bradshaw went on to call the new platform “permanent and sustainable. It’s not going up and down.”

“There are a lot of platforms backed by PE and they have a five-year business plan,” Bradshaw added. “They go about their growth story, and then it gets sold off to the next private equity group or dismantled and sold for the some of the parts – like you’re seeing with citizenM and Graduate Hotels. The brand went this way; the real estate went the other way, and they put a ground lease on it. That’s where I think we’re unique. We have these two platforms that aren’t going anywhere; they’re permanent.”

Bradshaw further explained that if L+R were listed in the U.S., it would be the second largest REIT behind Host, with the added complexity of operating across almost a dozen countries.

“That’s why it makes sense to get our house in order, including our B2B platform, our employer brand, and our investment platform above that because we’re sitting on something that’s just insanely unique and special.

“There is no reason why L+R should not be positioned as a preeminent global investment group like any other private equity group, and we are in a very unique position to be this hybrid capital and operating partner who can write checks in the hundreds of millions per deal. That doesn’t exist, so we’re excited.”