Tag: hotel beds

Meliá Finishes a €30M Renovation of its 900-Room Mega-Complex on the Costa del Sol

10 December 2018 – Diario Sur

Following the comprehensive renovation of the Don Pablo, Don Pedro and Don Marco Hotels, Meliá is preparing to change the brand to Sol Torremolinos Resort, with almost 900 rooms.

Just a few handcrafted details, commissioned in the 1970s, remind visitors of the origins and essence of the hotels Don Pablo, Don Pedro and Don Marco. They have undergone a comprehensive transformation following a €30 million investment to relaunch and consolidate them as the largest hotel complex in the Costa del Sol. The renovation work has taken three years and the only improvements left to make now, during the winter months, are in the spa located in the Don Marco Hotel, which is closed for the season, and in the indoor swimming pool, one of nine in the complex, explained Jaime Floyer, Director of Sol Don Hoteles. He added that Meliá is now preparing to change the brand to be renamed Sol Torremolinos Resort.

The three-hotel complex has modern façades, terraces that look like they end in the sea, a beach club and seven conference rooms, which have been renovated and equipped with the latest technology and with capacity for up to 500 people. It also has bedrooms and completely renovated common areas, plus 50,000 m2 of gardens and swimming pools, where the new work has improved the flow of clients from one hotel to another, to create the largest hotel complex on the Costa del Sol. “It is a resort that is looking to the future, we employ 210 people on average and we have a great diversity of nationalities amongst our loyal client base, with cases of tourists who spend up to five months here in the winter”, explained Jaime Floyer.

The new Sol Torremolinos Resort, on the beachfront, accounts for 5% of the hotel supply in Torremolinos, the town that is first in the ranking on the Costa del Sol by volume of hotel beds. This complex also has the advantage that it has an infrastructure that allows it to position each establishment in different and booming segments. In this way, Don Marco, the youngest of the hotels, inaugurated in 2004, as a four-star, 120-room property, is marketed as an establishment recommended for “adults only”.

By contrast, Sol Don Pedro is more focused on families (…); it opened to the public in 1971 and currently offers 344 rooms (…). Meanwhile, Don Pablo, with 442 rooms, is the big brother of the business (…) and opened its doors in 1974 (…).

In terms of the profile of clients, 25% are domestic, and the rest are from overseas, with Brits (24%) and Belgians (15%) standing out in particular (…).

Original story: Diario Sur (by Pilar Martínez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Buys Land in Menorca for €24.6M to Build Homes and a Hotel

3 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Quabit is preparing to bring more new homes onto the market. The company chaired by Félix Abánades (pictured below) is taking positions in the residential market in Menorca. The company has acquired a portfolio of buildable residential land on the island for €24.6 million.

The plots are located in Son Parc, on the north coast of Menorca, and form part of the municipality of Es Mercadal, according to explanations provided by the company in a statement. The plots have a buildability of 69,350 m2 for the construction of 277 new homes and 264 hotel beds.

The payment of 70% of the transaction price has been made through the company in which Quabit holds a majority stake and in which the global investment firm Avenue Capital holds almost 10%, with financial support from the funds advised by Avenue. The remaining 30% has been funded by using shares in the company with a value of €2 per share through a non-monetary capital increase.

“Quabit is going to start the pre-launch marketing campaign immediately, before the month of August”, explained the company. The deal in Menorca represents the company’s fourth major land transaction so far this year, after its acquisition of buildable residential plots during the first quarter in Madrid, Guadalajara and Corredor del Henares.

Following these operations, Quabit now has 1.1 million m2 of buildable land on which to build around 8,800 homes. In 2018, Quabit’s commercial portfolio comprises 45 developments with almost 3,300 homes in different phases of construction in Madrid, Málaga and the Costa del Sol, Guadalajara, Corredor del Henares and the Balearic Islands. The company is maintaining its objective of handing over 7,900 homes by 2022.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hotelbeds Wants To End The Online Agency Duopoly

5 October 2017 – Expansión

The Mallorcan firm Hotelbeds wants to take on the titans of the world of online agencies and break the de facto duopoly, which is effectively dominated by Expedia and Priceline, the parent company of Booking. The company, controlled by the private equity firm Cinven and the fund Canada Pension Plan Investment (CPPI), owns the largest bedbank in the world and after its purchase of Tourico and GTA, is constituting itself as a “clear alternative” to connect hotels and intermediaries, explains Joan Vilà, the Chief Executive of Hotelbeds Group, speaking to Expansión.

“We have undertaken these acquisitions in record time and have almost doubled our size with the purchase of GTA and Tourico. We were already market leaders in terms of our bedbank and our new size puts us in the Champions League of major companies around the world”, says Vilà.

Cinven and CPPI acquired their stakes in the company a year and a half ago, after reaching an agreement with the German group TUI for almost €1,200 million. Since then, the firm has acquired Tourico – based in Orlando and Tel Aviv – and GTA – the commercial name for the Kuoni Group’s travel business, in which the fund EQT owned a stake – for a combined value of €1,300 million.

These acquisitions will allow the group to double in size, with an annual turnover of €7,000 million and a total workforce of 8,300 employees, of which 5,300 belong to the Bedbank division.

For Vilà, the scale of the integrated group will allow the controlled hotels to gain more autonomy. Currently, Hotelbeds works with 100,000 hotels and 64,000 intermediaries (travel agents, tour operators and airlines).

Integration process

Following these operations, the company is now working on its integration plan, which it expects to complete over the next 18 months. “We have decided to use the Hotelbeds platform. Within 18 months we will be working as a single company”.

In terms of strengthening the company’s inorganic growth, Vilà explained that, although he does not rule out making new purchases, the company is focused on the integration process for the time being. The group has not yet decided whether it will work under a single brand. “In the B2B business, the presence of the brand is very important and all three are very well-known”.

In terms of the leadership team, Joan Vilà will continue in his role as the CEO, with Carlos Muñoz as the Director General of Bedbank and responsible for managing the integration of the three businesses, and Andrés García responsible for the financial area of the resulting group. Moreover, Hotelbeds has announced the appointment of José Antonio Tazón as a senior non-executive director on the Board of Directors and as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Three Minority Shareholders Acquire Petit Palace Hotel Chain

19 September 2016 – Cinco Días

The Choice Hotels chain has had the doors to the Spanish hotel market closed in its face. The US group signed a pre-agreement with N+1 in July whereby the investment bank committed to sell its 52% stake in High Tech. Several minority shareholders then also joined the agreement, which is due to expire on 30 September.

However, three of the chain’s minority investors have opted to exercise their right of first refusal and acquire shares from other investors. In this way, on Friday, N+1 announced the sale of 26% of the company that it held through N+1 Dinamia Portfolio II, an operation that, excluding expenses, amounted to €9 million, given that it had valued its stake at €0.

Besides that stake, the investment bank also held another 26% stake in High Tech through several private equity funds, which it has also divested, according to sources familiar with the operation.

The three minority shareholders that now control High Tech are: Inversiones el Piles, an Asturian company that also owns 24.5% of Duro Felguera. It used to own 10% of the hotel chain, but now controls 54%. Alongside it is the company Edificio Miño, a private investment fund linked to one of the shareholders of Seguros Santa Lucía, which previously held 6.5% and now holds 11%; and General Oilex Company, the real estate group originally from Sweden, which has increased its stake from 5% to 35%.

These three investors, which have paid around €40 million for the 78.5% of the company that they did not control, have taken on all of its debt. They had been given the option to exercise their right to accompany the other investors in Choice’s offer or to exercise their right of first refusal; they opted for the latter.

The operation represents N+1’s exit from the hotel chain’s share capital, after it first became a shareholder in 2003. It also sees the departure of the founding executives of the company, which together held a 26.2% stake. On several occasions, some of the founders, such as Antonio Fernández and Javier Candela, expressed their interest in regaining control of High Tech, due to differences in terms of management and they tried to look for financial support from other investment funds. As such, over the last year, they have sounded out buyers including Hotusa.

High Tech operates 31 hotels in Spain, through the Petit Palace brand; it rents the majority and manages the rest. The chain has a strong presence in Madrid, where it manages 20 properties, as well as in Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Bilbao and Málaga. In total, it has 1,966 rooms.

High Tech was launched 15 years ago by the team from Tryp, following the sale of that brand to the Escarrer family (Meliá). The founding team, which the other shareholders subsequently joined, created an urban brand, which suffered during the years of the crisis due to the high price of rentals and high financing costs. Sources in the market suggest that the new owners may be interested in valuing the company for its subsequent sale.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Laura Salces)

Translation: Carmel Drake