Selling a serviced accommodation management company: what the Cohost Partners sale to StayRight tells us
If you run a serviced accommodation management business, you have probably wondered what it is worth and who would ever buy it. It is a fair question. The sector is young, the businesses look nothing like a traditional letting agency, and there is very little public information about what these companies actually sell for.
We can now talk about one of them. Think Acquisition advised on the sale of Cohost Partners to StayRight, one of the largest independent short-term rental management deals South Wales has seen. This article uses that deal to explain how serviced accommodation businesses get valued, who buys them, and what you need in place before you go to market.
What was the Cohost Partners sale to StayRight?
Think Acquisition acted for the sellers of Cohost Partners, a South Wales serviced accommodation management business, on its sale to StayRight. The transaction completed last year and has only now been made public.
We supported the sellers from instruction through to completion. We ran the process, identified and qualified buyers, negotiated the offer, and supported the sellers through due diligence and the legal process.
Cohost Partners was built by Matthew Lowe, and later joined by Fran Brazil following an acquisition Cohost made of its own. Together they grew it into one of the largest short-let management portfolios in South Wales. The business joined StayRight following StayRight's earlier acquisition of Just Stay Wales, which Think Acquisition also supported.
Zac Ratcliffe, Director of StayRight, said: "It was fantastic working with Matthew and Leon to get this deal over the line. Being a Cohost competitor it was a natural acquisition, and looking forward to the continued growth and success of StayRight as Wales' biggest independent management company."
Leon Gorman, Director of Think Acquisition and deal lead, added: "It was great to work with StayRight on a second acquisition, and to play a part in one of the biggest short-let management acquisitions in South Wales. Serviced accommodation businesses can be complex to value and structure, with lots of moving parts. This transaction marked our fourth completion in this sector in a 12-month period, and we're keen to continue servicing this ever-changing industry."
Why are serviced accommodation businesses harder to value than letting agencies?
Because almost none of the revenue is contractually guaranteed. A letting agency earns a fixed monthly management fee on a countable number of units. A serviced accommodation business earns a commission that moves with occupancy, seasonality and nightly rate, none of which a buyer can rely on.
Gross booking value flatters the picture badly, because most of it belongs to the property owner and to the booking channels rather than to the management company. A buyer will value your net commission income and the profit that actually falls out of it. Owners who anchor on the headline figure flowing through their account are almost always disappointed, and it is one of the first conversations we have.
Two businesses managing the same number of units can produce completely different profit. The variables are commission structure, whether cleaning and linen sit inside the business or are passed through, and how much booking flow comes direct rather than through Airbnb, Booking.com or Vrbo.
What do buyers of serviced accommodation management companies pay for?
Buyers pay for retained owner relationships and net commission income, not for portfolio size. Across the four completions Think Acquisition has advised on in this sector in a twelve month period, the same five factors moved the price every time.
Owner retention. How many property owners renew, and how easily one could move their property to a competitor. This matters more than the number of units.
Contract quality. Exclusive management agreements with notice periods are worth materially more than informal, rolling arrangements.
Direct booking share. A business with a strong direct booking channel is less exposed to platform commission changes and consistently attracts a higher multiple.
Owner dependency. If the founder personally holds the relationships with property owners, the buyer is buying a risk rather than an asset.
Geographic density. A concentrated cluster of units in one area is cheaper to service and more attractive than the same number scattered across three counties.
Buyers also look closely at whether the business is genuinely a management company or a property portfolio with a management layer attached. Those are two different transactions with two different valuations, and mixing them up slows deals down.
How is regulation changing the serviced accommodation market in Wales?
Four changes are landing at once, and together they are pushing smaller operators towards a sale while making the same portfolios more attractive to scaled buyers.
The furnished holiday lettings tax regime was abolished from April 2025, removing the tax advantages that made short-term letting attractive to many individual property owners. In Wales, self-catering properties must meet a 182-day actual letting threshold to be assessed for business rates rather than council tax, and failing that test can mean a substantial council tax premium. From 1 April 2026 that threshold can be met on an averaging basis across years, which helps, but it remains a live risk.
Registration of all paid visitor accommodation in Wales with the Welsh Revenue Authority opens on 1 October 2026, covering any booking of 31 nights or less. A licensing scheme with fitness standards is expected to follow. Separately, local authorities in Wales will be able to introduce a visitor levy from 1 April 2027, proposed at £1.30 per person per night for most visitor accommodation.
For a small management company each of these is an administrative burden and a reason for individual property owners to exit. For a scaled operator with the systems already in place, the same changes are a reason to acquire. That asymmetry is why the sector is consolidating.
Why is the buyer so often a direct competitor?
Because a competitor can usually pay more than anyone else. They already have the staff, the software, the compliance framework and the local knowledge, which means your portfolio produces more profit inside their business than it does inside yours.
Zac's comment that "being a Cohost competitor it was a natural acquisition" is worth sitting with, because it runs against most sellers' instincts. Owners often assume their competitor is the last person they should approach.
The concern is not misplaced, it is just a process problem rather than a reason to rule anyone out. Approaching a competitor directly, with no adviser and no properly structured non-disclosure agreement, is genuinely risky. Approaching them through a broker who controls what information goes out and when is a very different exercise.
What do you need in place before you sell?
Clean management accounts that separate your commission income from owner money, signed management agreements you can actually produce, and two to three years of owner retention data. Those three things determine how quickly due diligence moves and how firmly a buyer holds their offer.
Beyond that, have your booking channel mix evidenced and your compliance records in order. None of it is glamorous, and all of it is what a buyer's due diligence will land on.
Frequently asked questions
How are serviced accommodation management companies valued in the UK?
They are generally valued on a multiple of adjusted EBITDA derived from net commission income, cross-checked on a per-unit basis. Gross booking value is not the basis of valuation, because most of it belongs to property owners and booking platforms.
What is my serviced accommodation business worth?
It depends on net commission income, profit margin, owner retention, contract terms and direct booking share. Two businesses with the same number of units can be worth very different amounts. A specialist valuation is the only reliable answer.
Who buys serviced accommodation and short-term rental management companies?
Most commonly, larger regional operators in the same sector, often direct competitors, along with letting and estate agencies expanding into short-term rentals and investor-backed consolidators building regional groups.
How long does it take to sell a serviced accommodation business?
Typically four to nine months from instruction to completion, depending on how well prepared the financial and contractual records are and how quickly due diligence can be satisfied.
Should I tell my property owners that I am selling?
Not at the start. Owner relationships are the main asset being transferred, so the timing and wording of that communication is planned carefully and usually happens close to or after completion, with the seller making contact first.
Is my business too small to sell?
Smaller portfolios are regularly acquired, particularly where they sit in an area a larger operator wants to enter. Density and contract quality often matter more to a buyer than headcount or unit numbers.
Contact
Think Acquisition specialises exclusively in property services M&A, including serviced accommodation and short-term rental management. If you own a serviced accommodation business and want to understand what it could be worth, or you are simply weighing up your options, we would welcome a confidential, no-obligation conversation.
T: 02920 025 852
