Hotel chain deal

WHITBREAD has expanded its Premier Inn hotels, despite calls to break it up.

The costa coffee owner has bought 19 hotels in Germany for an undisclosed sum.

They are expected to be open by the end of 2020, and will take the group’s German portfolio to 31 hotels. It comes amid rumours that Whitbread could spin off its costa coffee business after activist investor Sachem Head capital Management took a stake.

chief executive Alison Brittain said: ‘ We believe that Germany is a market that will deliver strong returns in the future.’