• Transaction / Assets
  • Seller
  • Buyer
  • € MM

Merlin Finalises The Sale Of Its Hotels For €500M+

28 December 2016 – Preferente.com

Merlin, a company listed on the Ibex 35, is finalising the sale of its hotels to the French Socimi Foncière des Régions, for a figure that exceeds €500 million. Advised by CBRE, it will be the largest operation carried out by a Socimi in 2016, excluding the integration of Merlin and Metrovacesa.

The portfolio of properties contains 29 hotels operated by different chains, including the Eurostars Grand Marina in Barcelona and the NH Sanvy in Madrid (pictured above). The hotels that share buildings with offices will be left out of the transaction, such as the Eurostars Torre Castellana, which is located in the Torre PwC, and the Novotel de Barcelona, which is next to Capgemini’s headquarters. The hotels have come from corporate operations with Testa and Metrovacesa.

In 2015, Merlin acquired Testa, the real estate subsidiary of Sacyr, for more than €1,790 million. As part of that transaction, it bought 12 hotels, valued at more than €380 million at the time. As a result of the integration of the tertiary assets of Metrovacesa, a deal that was closed this year, another 12 hotels, worth €258 million, were transfered to Merlin. In total, the Socimi has 4,495 rooms, in establishments operated by Barceló, Meliá, AC Hotels, Tryp, Holiday Inn, NH Hoteles and Exe. The Carris Marineda hotel in A Coruña and the Socimi’s 30% stake in Barceló Costa Ballena in Cádiz have been left out of the transaction. Moreover, Merlin already sold off one hotel in Perpignan (France).

The hotels account for around 7% of Merlin’s asset portfolio, worth €9,300 million in total and will generate expected revenues of €450 million following the integration of Metrovacesa approved in September. The properties are home to hotels such as the NH Collection Colón, the Paseo del Arte, Exe Puerta Castilla, Eurostars Gran Madrid, and Barceló Castellana Norte, all in Madrid. In Barcelona, the portfolio includes AC Forum and Tryp Aeropuerto, amongst others. In other locations, Merlin owns the Holiday Inn and Tryp Oceanic, both in Valencia, Playa Capricho (Almería), Costa Park and Tryp Alameda (Málaga), Tryp Jerez, and Barceló Corralejo (Las Palmas).

Original story: Preferente.com

Translation: Carmel Drake