Tag: hotel owner

Blackstone’s Hotel Socimi Hispania Ceases Trading on the Stock Market

4 April 2019 – La Vanguardia

Hispania, the largest hotel owner in the country, will stop trading on the stock market from tomorrow Friday 5 April. This outcome has been on the cards since the Socimi, which owns 46 hotels located all over Spain, was taken over by the US fund Blackstone last year.

Blackstone paid €18.25 per share for the Socimi, compared with the firm’s debut price of €10.00. On Thursday, Hispania closed trading at €17.82 per share.

The Socimi, which is worth almost €2 billion, will abandon the stock market five years after making its debut in March 2014. It is the first Socimi to have trading in its shares terminated in this way.

Original story: La Vanguardia 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Hispania Receives a €100M Loan from EIB

12 January 2018 – Expansión

Hispania has signed a loan with the European Investment Bank (EIB) for €100 million to update its hotel portfolio and bring its assets in line with better technical standards, including energy efficiency measures.

Specifically, the investment will be used to improve tourist accommodation that the Socimi controlled by George Soros owns in tourist regions such as the Canary Islands and Andalucía.

The EIB is the European Union’s long-term financial institution, which grants long-term loans to investment projects aimed at promoting the implementation of EU objectives.

The loan to Hispania contributes to improving the competitiveness of the Spanish hotel sector, according to the EIB, through the incorporation of technical standards at its facilities. In this way, the investment supports the growth of less developed regions, where most of the hotels are located, explains the institution.

Hispania whereby joins Axiare, which received €16 million from the EIB last month to improve energy efficiency and the general features of its buildings with the aim of making them more sustainable.

Largest owner

Hispania is currently the largest owner of hotels in Spain with more than 13,100 rooms across the country.

At the end of last year, the company agreed to purchase the remaining 24% stake in BAY from Barceló for a total of €172.4 million. Moreover, it acquired Hotel Barceló Guadalmina from the Mallorcan hotel chain for €19 million. With these acquisitions and the investment plan to improve and reposition its portfolio, Hispania committed all of its financial capacity at the end of last year.

In February, the Socimi, in which George Soros holds a stake, announced its intention to maintain its initial objective of selling all of its assets before March 2020, the date that will mark six years since its debut on the stock market.

Original story: Expansión (by R. A.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

B&B Hotels Plans To Double In Size By 2019

26 January 2017 – Expansión

B&B Hotels is putting its foot down on the accelerator in Spain and wants to double its size in the country over the next three years. The French hotel group, which is owned by the private equity fund PAI Partners, currently operates 20 hotels in Spain following its purchase of the low-cost chain Sidorme last October. It is planning to grow its portfolio to 40 hotels by the end of 2019, according to Jairo González, CEO at B&B Hotels for Spain and Portugal.

“PAI Partners have owned B&B Hotels since March 2016 and they expressed their interest in Sidorme immediately”, said the Director. B&B Hotels has operated four hotels in Spain since 2015 and added 15 assets to its portfolio last year through the purchase of Sidorme. Moreover, in January, the chain incorporated a new hotel in Vigo.

The private equity fund’s commitment to Spain is “clear”. “The idea is to open five hotels this year and to commit to opening another five in the future. Our plan is to open 20 more hotels between now and the end of 2020, which would mean doubling our current operations”, said González.

Moreover, the company wants to make its debut in Portugal. “It is a very interesting market and it is perfect for a product such as ours. We want to open our first hotel in the country during 2017”.

Last year, the company recorded turnover of more than €20 million in Spain and an EBITDA of more than €5 million, which represented a two-fold increase compared to the previous year. “The forecast for this year is to achieve growth of between 20% and 30%. Our size still allows us to do that”, said González.

And he added: “Rapid growth generates a certain degree of chaos, which, if channelled in a productive way, permits a very positive vibrant effect, but, otherwise, is self-destructive”.

The company’s plans also include selling the owned hotels it inherited from Sidorme – eight of the twenty assets in its current portfolio – to focus on the management of its assets. The company manages almost 3,000 rooms with a RevPAR (average revenue per available room) of around €30.

In terms of the tourist apartment business line, the company will analyse any new opportunities that fit with its strategy. “We see this business as an opportunistic option. If we come across operations such as the one on Calle Fuencarral, 46 (in Madrid), we will be delighted to proceed, but we are only interested in buildings that are close to existing hotels so that they can complement the existing products”, added the Director.

Sidorme currently operates apartments on Calle Fuencarral, 46, which are located just a few metres from a Sidorme hotel on the same street.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake