Tag: Didra group

Aina Purchases 50% Of Gran Hotel Velázquez From Didra Group

25 July 2017 – Expansión

Aina Hospitality – the fund promoted by Edmond de Rothschild and Jaume Tàpies – has purchased 50% of the iconic Gran Hotel Velázquez from the Didra Group. The property is located at number 62 of the Madrilenian street whose name it bears.

This asset, located in the neighbourhood of Salamanca, just a stone’s throw from the Retiro park and in the heart of Madrid’s golden mile, has been owned by the Didra Group for just a few months. It is currently undergoing a comprehensive renovation with the aim of ascending its category.

Together with the Didra Group, owned by the Ardid Villoslada family, Aina Hospitality will reposition the property, transforming it into a five-star hotel. Last year, the family office owned by the Ardid family reached an agreement with the Salazar family – the former owners of SOS Cuétara – to purchase this hotel for €63 million and now, almost a year later, it has decided to open up the share capital to Aina Hospitality.

At the moment, the four-star Gran Hotel Velázquez, has 143 rooms but it recently closed its doors to undergo a complete refurbishment.

Repositioning

Following its renovation, the hotel will have 111 rooms and suites, a restaurant, a rooftop terrace, cinema, bowling alley, luxury spa and fitness centre.

Tàpies, the CEO of Aina Hospitality, highlighted the excellent location of the hotel: “Madrid is a cultural, historical and leisure destination and it is a tourist and financial centre. This hotel is located in the centre of the city, close to some of the most important tourist attractions and the historical centre”.

The operation represents Aina Hospitality’s seventh investment in Europe and is in line with the investment strategy carried out by the manager to date. Aina Hospitality purchases high-end properties – with four- and five-stars ratings. In addition to Madrid, the fund has recently made acquisitions in Paris, Eindhoven, Vienna, Brussels and Berlin.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Salazar Family Sells Gran Hotel Velázquez To Didra Group For €58M

1 June 2017 – Idealista

The Salazar family, the former owner of SOS Cuétara, has just divested the last jewel in its hotel crown in Madrid: it has sold the Gran Hotel Velázquez for €58 million.

The establishment has 142 rooms, is located on the capital’s Golden Mile and its new owner is the Didra Group, famous for constructing residential developments in luxury urbanisations in Madrid. Didra plans to close the hotel in July for 18 months to undertake a comprehensive refurbishment.

The Salazar family, through Corporación Hispana Hotelera, owned four hotels in the capital in its heyday. However, it started to sell off its properties three years ago to finance the fine imposed on it by the courts for the embezzlements at SOS Cuétara, which went on for 10 years.

In this way, the family sold the Ada Palace, an establishment located on Madrid’s Gran Vía, close to Puerta del Sol, to an Asian investment group, for €35 million. In addition, it sold the María Elena Palace Hotel, which is also located in the heart of the capital.

The latest hotel to have been sold has been the Gran Hotel Velázquez. Last year, the Salazar family was about to close the deal with the Didra Group, but it was then thwarted because of the buyer’s lack of liquidity and because the courts suspended the operation. Nevertheless, the family has now received the green light to close the sale and so has just one hotel establishment left in its portfolio: the Hotel Osuna, located on the outskirts of the capital, near the airport.

This agreement is expected to be made public within the next few days.

Original story: Idealista

Translation: Carmel Drake

CBRE: Inv’t In Hotels Exceeded €700M In Q1

10 May 2017 – CBRE

Hotel investment in Spain is growing again, as are the main tourist indicators. Just when it seemed as if the YoY growth in hotel investment was beginning to slow down (based on the results for 2016), transactions worth almost 35% more were closed during the first three months of this year, than during the first quarter last year. According to the data compiled by CBRE Hotels, between January and March 2017, investment in hotel asset purchases amounted to €710 million, including not only hotels but also tourist apartments, aparthotels, as well as plots of land and buildings acquired for hotel use.

Of the 44 assets that changed hands during the first three months of 2017, approximately 55% belong to the urban segment and 45% to the vacation segment. With respect to the destination of investments, the Spanish capital stands out, accounting for more than 40% of the total volume invested compared to 27% in Barcelona, which despite its moratorium saw the sale of five hotels. The Balearic and Canary Islands, together with the Costa del Sol, accounted for another 19% of the total investment figure. The remaining investment was distributed across the rest of the peninsula.

During the first quarter, almost 40% of investments were carried out by private investors, compared with 55% during the first quarter of 2016. On the other hand, almost 20% of the volume invested was disbursed by hotel chains and operators, whilst the remaining 40% corresponded to institutional investors, including banks, sovereign funds, Socimis, fund managers, insurance companies and pension funds.

In terms of the types of contract, and based on the data from CBRE Hotels, 45% of the total transaction amount corresponded to operations in which the buyer became the manager of the establishment, whilst the remaining 55% related to investors that assigned the management of the establishment to the existing operator or to a new one.

In terms of the main operations that took place during the first quarter of the year, we highlight the sale of 50% of Centro Canalejas by OHL and Villar Mir; the acquisition of Hotel Velázquez, which was acquired by the Didra group; the purchase of NH Manzanares; and the operation involving the future Generator, which was acquired by Queensgate. At the same time, in the Catalan capital, the Hotel Silken Diagonal Barcelona and Hotel Generator Barcelona were sold, for a combined total of more than €100 million. CBRE Hotels brokered the sale of one hotel in Barcelona during the first quarter of the year.

Finally, several operations involving portfolios of hotels were also closed during the quarter, including the transaction completed by the Portobello group in March, which saw it acquire 95% of the Blue Sea Hotels & Resorts hotel chain, which owns several of the hotels that it manages.

Original story: CBRE 

Translation: Carmel Drake