Acquire
Origination, underwriting and execution for an owner-side acquisition decision.
What this stage is
Acquire is a defined owner-side workstream.
Acquisition is the point at which an owner commits to a price, structure and operating case. The analysis must deal with the hotel as a trading business as well as a real estate asset.
Iconia takes the work from sourcing through close so the assumptions presented for approval are carried into the operating plan after completion.
What Iconia does
The work behind the recommendation.
Origination and mandate fit
Screen on- and off-market opportunities against the owner’s criteria, including asset type, geography, tenure, condition and intended hold. Record why an opportunity fits, or why it does not.
Market and comp-set analysis
Establish the relevant competitor set and test demand drivers, supply, trading position and pricing evidence. The analysis separates market performance from an asset-specific issue.
Underwriting and operating model
Build the operating model from occupancy, rate, ancillary revenue, departmental costs, labour, capex and funding assumptions. Test the ramp and margin required for the owner’s case to hold.
Commercial, technical and operational diligence
Coordinate review of the trading record, management arrangements, condition, capex needs, licences, material contracts and operational risks. Maintain a live issues register with an owner for each response.
Structure, funding and close
Support commercial terms, coordinate funding inputs and manage the path to completion. Translate diligence findings into the completion plan, first-year budget and immediate operator actions.
What the owner receives
A record that can be reviewed and acted on.
- A written acquisition brief, market assessment and defined comp set.
- An underwriting model with the operating case and key assumptions visible.
- A due diligence issues register, recommended responses and decision points.
- Transaction status reporting and an investment committee paper where required.
- A completion and first-year operating plan for handover into management.
Where value is won or lost
The important mistake is usually made before the headline decision.
Most acquisition errors are not caused by the headline price alone. They sit in an optimistic view of the operating ramp: how fast rate, occupancy, ancillary revenue and margin can move together. Underwriting the building without underwriting that operating sequence leaves the owner carrying an assumption no operator agreed to deliver.
Next stage
Reposition
See how the next stage carries the owner’s operating and capital plan forward.
RepositionPhotography used on this page is licensed under the Unsplash License. Images are illustrative and do not depict the assets named.