Dawnay Shore Hotels has agreed a deal with hospitality group Barcelo to take over the management of its Paramount Hotels portfolio.

Spanish company Barcelo will lease the portfolio, which comprises 20 four and five star hotels in the UK, on a 45 year agreement. Dawnay Shore, which was set up by Dawnay Day and Shore Capital in 2004, said the deal follows a strategic review of its operations and would increase the value of its portfolio, excluding certain peripheral land, to £556.2m.

Dawnay Shore said the agreement provided a secure income stream which would be inflation indexed and with further potential for rises depending on the hotel's profit performance.

Dawnay Shore said the deal would help further its expansion plans and the strategic alliance with Barcelo would play a further role in the company’s expansion plans. It said it intended to ‘unlock value’ by increasing gearing and returning capital to shareholders.