De Vere secures new funding

Alternative Hotel Group, which owns the De Vere hotels chain, has undergone a refinancing by Lloyds Banking Group which involves one of the largest debt for equity swaps ever seen in the UK.

Lloyds is exchanging £650million of debt for preference shares in a restructuring of one of the businesses it inherited due to the takeover of HBOS. As a result, AHG's debts will fall from about £1.7billion to just over £1billion, according to a report in The Times.

De Vere, formerly owns or operates 42 hotels. It also includes the Village Hotels chain.