A newly created hotel group, Jupiter Hotels, has acquired a portfolio of 24 hotels from the administrators of Jarvis Hotels.

The 24 hotels combine for a 2,665-bedroom estate comprising of 21 freeholds and three leaseholds.

Jupiter is a joint venture created for the transaction by private investor Patron Capital and West Register, an arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Andrew Gill, formerly of Intercontinental Hotels Group, will become interim CEO of Jupiter Hotels.

With the exception of Jarvis's board of directors, all of the existing employees of Jarvis's head office and the 24 hotels will transfer to Jupiter.

The hotels will be rebranded Mercure, under a franchise agreement with French hotel giant Accor. The deal is the single biggest franchise contract for Accor this year.

The joint venture investors are injecting £40m, with debt financing of £71m provided by RBS, HSBC and Bank of Ireland, which were the original lenders to Jarvis.

Stephen Green, Patron Capital's Senior Partner, Special Situations, said: "We are delighted that West Register chose to partner with Patron Capital on this complicated restructuring transaction. The result is to the benefit of a wide range of stakeholders, including 1,900 employees across the UK."