Europe Hotel Transactions Bulletin - Week Ending 19 April 2024

Proprium sells 35% stake in Motel One to One Hotels

Global real estate private equity firm Proprium Capital Partners has divested its 35% stake in the German hotel chain Motel One, selling it back to the group’s majority owner One Hotels & Resorts for €1.25 billion. This values the group at €4.17 billion, a 2023 EBITDA multiple of approximately 14 times. The chain was founded in 2000 and its portfolio presently includes 94 hotels totalling 26,470 rooms across 13 countries, which include most major European markets in addition to a presence in the United States. Proprium acquired its stake in 2007 for €65 million and this investment has generated an equity return of over 20 times when including dividends. Motel One expects to open an additional 13 hotels by 2026, which will increase its portfolio to 56 cities and 32,000 rooms.

Morgan Stanley and Quinspark acquire Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel from Amundi

Morgan Stanley and French owner-operator Quinspark Investment Partners have finalised the acquisition of the four-star, 430-room Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel from French REIT Amundi Immobilier’s Opcimmo collective real estate investment body for €330 million (€767,000 per room). The hotel, which opened in 1966, is located on the doorstep of the Eiffel Tower, some 200 metres from the Champs de Mars on which the landmark sits. The hotel has a total surface of 23,900 square metres and features a restaurant, bar, fitness centre and 25 meeting rooms. It is the closest hotel to the Eiffel Tower. Following this transaction, Amundi Immobilier’s hotel portfolio comprises 18 assets across five western-European markets.

Gruppo Statuto acquires Hotel de Rome in Berlin from GIC and Caleus

Italian investor Gruppo Statuto has acquired the five-star, 145-room Hotel de Rome, a Rocco Forte Hotel in Berlin, Germany, from Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and German investor Caleus Capital Partners, for a reported €145 million (€1 million per room). The hotel is presently managed and leased by British hotel group Rocco Forte Hotels, although that lease agreement is reportedly soon to expire. Centrally located some 15 minutes walk from the Brandenburg Gate and ten minutes from the Berlin Cathedral, the luxury hotel comprises a gross floor area of roughly 18,300 square metres and includes a ballroom and a spa with a 20-metre swimming pool. GIC and Caleus acquired the hotel in 2019 from Commerz Real, who had owned it since 2007 when they acquired it from Rocco Forte for a reported €79 million, the year after it was converted from a bank headquarters into a luxury hotel.

Nrep acquires Comfort Hotel Karl Johan in Oslo from CBRE IM

Nordic private equity real estate developer Nrep, through its NSF V fund, has acquired the three-star, 260-room Comfort Hotel Karl Johan in Oslo, Norway, from CBRE Investment Management. The property is located in the city centre in front of the Oslo cathedral, 350 metres from the capital’s main train station, and also includes a Nike flagship store and three further retail units which are all fully let. The transaction comes after CBRE IM fully refurbished the asset, increasing the hotel’s room count by 79 rooms and its retail space by 300 square metres. NSF V is a 2022 vintage fund which closed at €3.65 billion, making it the largest European focused value-add real estate fund to date.

PGIM and Sonae Sierra JV acquires hotel in Porto

PGIM Real Estate, the real estate branch of global investment manager PGIM and Portuguese real estate investment company Sierra Sonae have formed a joint venture targeting hospitality investments, which has acquired its first asset in the city centre of Porto, Portugal. The asset is expected to open in H2 2024 and be positioned in the upper-upscale hotel segment. The JV is primarily targeting value-add opportunities and aiming for a gross asset value of some €200 million. The hotels will be managed by Lisbon-based Iberian Hospitality Solutions (IHSP), which has operated some 30 hotels and resorts and over 3,000 rooms since 2014. Sonae Sierra’s portfolio presently consists of roughly €7 billion in assets across 35 countries, out of which approximately €5.4 billion are shopping centres. HVS conducted due diligence advisory for the buyers on the transaction.

City Hotels Company Holding acquires three hotels in Italy

Italian owner-operator City Hotels Company Holding (Gruppo CHC), has acquired a portfolio of three hotels totalling 536 rooms across the cities of Naples, Bologna and Parma in Italy from Bayview Italia, the Italian branch of US asset-manager Bayview, and Italian real estate companies Scudo Immobiliare and Tirrenium Leasing. The portfolio includes the four-star, 327-room Holiday Inn Naples, the four-star, 96-room My One Hotel Bologna and the four-star, 113-room Hotel Villa Ducale in Parma. With this acquisition, Gruppo CHC’s portfolio increases to 13 hotels in Italy, comprising six Holiday Inns and three Best Westerns. Prior to the sale, the Bologna and Parma hotels were managed by Italian operator Compagnia Degli Hotel (CDH).

Lopesan acquires AC Hotel Iberia Las Palmas in Spain’s Canary Islands

Canary Islands-based tourism company Lopesan Hotel Group has acquired the four-star, 281-room AC Hotel Iberia Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, from an undisclosed seller. Las Palmas, the island’s capital, is home to almost half of Gran Canaria’s population of some 850,000 people. The hotel is located near the city centre and old town, some 10 minutes by car from Las Canteras beach. Marriott, which presently manages the asset, will stay in place under a further two-year agreement. The hotel features a restaurant, gym, seven event spaces totalling 523 square metres and a rooftop swimming pool with sea views. Lopesan’s portfolio currently spans approximately 20 hotels in five countries, with the majority being held in Spain and Germany.

Extendam acquires Hilton Garden Inn Sevilla from Aliseda Inmobiliaria

French private equity firm Extendam has acquired the four-star, 140-room Hilton Garden Inn Sevilla in Spain from Blackstone-owned real estate company Aliseda Inmobiliaria. The property is located in the Torneo business park in the northern part of Seville, a 15-minute drive from the airport, and includes a restaurant, gym and meeting rooms. The hotel’s common areas were refurbished in 2023 prior to the sale. The asset will be operated by Continuum Hospitality Group, who already operate six other Spanish hotels for Extendam. Extendam’s portfolio of economy and mid-market European hotels comprises some 340 hotels and roughly 26,500 rooms, amounting to a gross asset value of around €3.8 billion.

MV Investment acquires Hotel Jugoslavija in Belgrade from Danube Riverside

Serbian real estate developer Millenium Team, through its subsidiary MV Investments, has acquired the three-star, 132-room Hotel Jugoslavija in Belgrade, Serbia, from domestic company Danube Riverside amidst bankruptcy proceedings, for a price of RSD3.2 billion (RSD 24.2 million per room), or €27 million (€205,000 per room). The site is to be fully redeveloped by Millenium into a 155-metre tall residential, business and hotel complex over a construction period of four years for a total of some €400 million. The hotel, previously the largest in Yugoslavia, opened in 1969 on one of the city’s main promenades and is of great cultural and historical value, having welcomed guests such as Queen Elizabeth II, Neil Armstrong, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi.

MHL Hotel Collection acquires former Park Inn by Radisson Belfast from May Street

Irish hotel group MHL Hotel Collection has acquired the former three-star, 145-room Park Inn by Radisson Belfast in Northern Ireland from locally-based real estate investment firm May Street Capital. The hotel is located in Belfast’s city centre, a five-minute walk from the City Hall and Cathedral Quarter. Following the transaction, the asset will undergo a £7 million refurbishment programme (£48,000 per room) and is expected to reopen as a Moxy by Marriott during the first half of 2025. This purchase marks the group’s 14th hotel and its first outside the Republic of Ireland. MHL’s portfolio includes notable assets such as the InterContinental Dublin and The College Green Hotel Dublin, Autograph Collection. The group also owns the 157-room Moxy Dublin City.

Recent HVS Publications

2023 European Hotel Transactions (Read here)
Easier Visas Lead to Tourism Growth and Increased GDP (Read here)
HVS 2023 European Hotel Valuation Index (Read here)
PAM – The Most Useful Benchmark for Hotel Investment (Read here)
Hotel Franchising in Europe – The Push Continues for New Ways to Expand (Read here)