The Sefton Hotel is set to be sold.

Shareholders have been informed that the Sefton Group has agreed to sell the seafront landmark to Douglas Hotel Holdings Ltd for £7.6m.

It forms a freehold sale and leaseback deal with a lease term of 20 years, but with a right for the Sefton Group to extend this for a further 20 years.

Initially, annual rent will be £600,000, with increases every five years.

There is also an option for the Sefton Group to buy back the property if the new owner chooses to sell.

The Sefton Group said it would not be making any comment about the deal.

But the company referred in its last annual accounts about the need to move to an operating company model, releasing equity from bricks and mortar for use in the actual trading of the business.

It noted: ’The key to step changing the business lies with the switch to an operating company model.’

The Sefton Group offloaded another significant property asset from its books last year with the sale of the former Castle Mona Hotel to the Tevir Group for £1.21m.

A spokesman for the Department for Enterprise said a liability relating to a government tourism grant would transfer to the new owner as part of the sale.

She said: ’As part of the Sefton restructuring, the Department for Enterprise has given consent to the liability, following a tourism grant approximately 10 years ago, transferring to the new owner of the Sefton.

’The grant, which was given for the development of tourism premises, was subject to 15 year terms and conditions and these remain in place for the remainder of the period.’

Little is known about Douglas Hotel Holdings Ltd. Incorporated as Harwood Investments Ltd in October 2018, it applied to change to its current name in April this year.

The registered agent is Ashgroves Corporate Services Ltd, of Albert Street, Douglas.