Akkeron Hotels Group, formed in 2008 by entrepreneur James Brent, has acquired privately-owned Forestdale Hotels for an undisclosed sum.

The deal includes Forestdale's 18 hotels in the UK and increases the number of properties in Akkeron's portfolio to 26.

The acquisition was funded with a mixture of equity, deferred consideration and a new £32m, 18-year loan provided by Lloyds Banking Group.

Forestdale's collection of hotels spread across England and the company has an annual turnover of £30m.

Akkeron will invest in redeveloping the properties but announced that it will keep the Forestdale brand.

Matthew Welbourn, managing director of Akkeron Hotels, said: "This group of hotels will form an important part of our portfolio.

"While the trading outlook for regional hotel operators in the UK remains challenging, we continue to see exciting opportunities to acquire high quality hotel assets that will benefit from capital investment and the operational expertise that an operator of scale can provide, and we expect to make further announcements over the next year".

Akkeron announced its first acquisition of hotel assets In December 2009 when it completed a deal for eight hotels from Mulbourn Hotels Limited trading as Folio Hotels.