Blackstone Will Pay Azora €224 million Following Termination of Contract

10 August 2018

Follows its successful takeover bid for Hispania.

The North American fund, through its subsidiary Alzette Investment, will terminate its contract with Hispania’s current asset manager. According to the agreed terms, Azora will be indemnified in the amount of €224.4 million, corresponding mostly to “success fees.” Blackstone had already announced its intention to grant the management of the hotels to HI Partners, its hotel management company.

Following the success of the Blackstone Group’s takeover bid for Hispania through its subsidiary Alzette Investment, announced at the end of July, the company announced the termination of its management contract with the Azora through a notice to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). The early termination will result in an indemnity that will exceed 224 million euros.

Hispania communicated Alzette’s decision to terminate the management contract between the Company and Azora Capital, signed on February 21, 2014. The conditions are set in the ‘Termination Letter’, according to which the company entitled to the “collection of the following fees for early termination under the Management Contract: (a) €33,698,143, equivalent to the amount of the base fee that would have corresponded to keeping the Management Contract in force until the end of its contractual term, and (b) €190,832,528 corresponding to success fees (performance fees) calculated in accordance with the Management Contract in the event of a change of control of the Company.”

As reported by Hosteltur tourism news, Blackstone plans to maintain Hispania’s assets, while changing the manager. In June, the American fund stated in its takeover bid, which provided details regarding technical aspects as well as the company’s proposed strategy after assuming control of the socimi, that it planned to control the hotel assets through an unlisted company, entrusting the hotels’ management to a subsidiary, HI Partners, and that it would terminate the company’s contract with Azora, which it has been managing Hispania’s assets for the past years.

Also, Alzette and the management company have agreed that Azora will continue cooperating temporarily with the Company ” to ensure an orderly transition after the completion of the takeover bid”.

Alzette has undertaken to present the terms of the Termination Agreement to the Board of Directors of the Company for its submission to the General Shareholders’ Meeting, which must be held no later than September 30, 2018, and to vote at said General Meeting in favour of the approval of said termination agreement for subsequent subscription by the Company.

Original Story: Hosteltur

Translation: Richard Turner