HI Partners Acquires Remaining 50.1% of Hotel Abama in Tenerife

12 March 2018 – Expansión

HI Partners has been making its first acquisitions since being taken over by Blackstone Real Estate. Banco Sabadell’s former hotel holding company has taken ownership of 100% of Hotel Abama Golf & Spa de Tenerife after acquiring the 50.1% share capital that it did not yet control from the Polanco family.

The company led by Alejandro Hernández Puértolas already purchased 49.9% of the luxury Canarian tourist resort from Tropical Hoteles – a subsidiary of the Polanco’s investment group, Timón – a year ago, and has now become its sole owner.

Luxurious five-star resort

Ritz Carlton is going to continue managing the establishment, which has a luxury five-star rating and 461 rooms, of which 148 are villas. Located in the town of Guía de Isora, the resort was designed by Melvin Villarroel. It spans a surface area of 90,000 m2 and has a two-starred Michelin restaurant run by the chef Martín Berasategui.

HI Partners, which Blackstone acquired last year for €630 million, owns 16 hotels comprising 4,684 rooms, which are operated by chains such as Ritz-Carlton, AC by Marriot, Lopesan and Meliá.

Original story: Expansión (by S. Saborit)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Estate Agents’ Branch Networks Grew By 16.6% In 2016

26 July 2017 – Eje Prime

Estate agents continued to increase their network of branches in the Spanish market last year. The number of new operating establishments opened amounted to 1,287, up by 184 compared to 2015, when 1,103 new premises were opened, according to The Franchise in Spain 2017 report, prepared by the Spanish Association of Franchisers (AEF).

According to the report, there are currently 34 networks operating in the estate agent sector, of which 31 were operational at the end of 2015, which means 3 new chains entered the market in 2016.

In terms of billing data, the sector recorded revenues of €287.7 million in 2016, compared with €231.8 million in 2015, which represents an increase of €55.9 million.

Regarding the jobs that the real estate agency sector has generated, at the end of 2016, it employed 3,499 people, compared with 2,748 in 2015; in other words, it now employs 751 more workers.

“The real estate sector was one of the hardest hit by the crisis, however, it has managed to recover and, after a process of natural selection in the market, only those chains that bring seriousness and professionalism to the sector remain. This has opened up a new, solid and promising panorama”, explains Xavier Vallhonrat, President of the AEF.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake