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

Sabadell Sells Its Hotel Management Company To Blackstone

17 October 2017 – Expansión

Sabadell has sold 100% of the share capital in HI Partners, its hotel management platform, to Halley Holdco, an entity controlled by funds advised by subsidiaries of Blackstone. The transaction price amounted to €630.73 million, according to a statement filed by the bank with the CNMV. Nevertheless, the definitive valuation will be subject to “possible non-material adjustments” and “is conditional upon obtaining the necessary authorisation from the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV)”.

Sabadell will recognise a net gain of €55 million in its results for this year as a consequence of the sale. Moreover, it will improve its maximum quality capital ratio (CET 1 without full implementation of Basel III) by 22 basis points. In June, its capital ratio amounted to 12.67%, in accordance with the calendar for the gradual adaptation of the rule, and to 12.1% assuming the full application of Basel III (fully loaded).

HI Partners is one of the largest managers of hotel assets, including debt, in Spain, with 29 properties in its portfolio and 4,793 rooms in total. Its establishments include the Hotel Ritz-Carlton Abama, in Guía de Isora (Tenerife); the Hotel Abora Catarina, located in Maspalomas (Gran Canaria); and the Hotel ME Sitges Terramar (Sitges), the Hotel Hilton Sa Torre, in Llucmajor (Mallorca); and the Abba Acteon, in Valencia.

Before the summer, Sabadell engaged the investment banks Citi, JP Morgan and Credit Suisse to sound out the market regarding the possible placement on the stock exchange of its hotel management subsidiary.

In addition to Sabadell’s majority stake, HI Partners’ other shareholders include the company’s management team, comprising Alejandro Hernández-Puértolas, Sergio Carrascosa and Santiago Fisas. Its most recent operations involve several agreements with the Canary Islands-based hotel group Lopesan, from which it purchased the hotels ‘Ifa Dunamar’, ‘Ifa Continental’ and ‘Ifa Beach’.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lopesan and Satocan Bid for BBVA Shopping Centre

 

9 August 2017

Two companies from the Canary Islands, Lopesan and Satocan, investors in the Sacyr construction company, will jointly bid for the El Muelle shopping centre located in Las Palmas and owned by BBVA. Another company from the Canary Islands, Germán Suárez (Astican and Astander), will participate in the deal, along with the Syrian investor Amid Achid (Almacenes Número 1). They are offering roughly 15 million euros for the 90,000-square meter centre. The total investment, including renovations, would rise to 35 million euros, as confirmed by Amid Achid to Expansión.

Lopesan belongs to the tourism entrepreneur Eustasio López, who acquired 2.44% of Sacyr this year. Juan Miguel Sanjuán (Satocan) maintains a stake with Demetrio Carceller (Disa-Damm), with almost 15% of the construction company.

Having almost closed nine years ago, El Muelle managed to become a key part of the tourist development of Las Palmas. The 90,000 square meters in the port area have received investments of 100 million euros. The most prominent is the German company Kiessling (Loro Parque), which invested €60 million to develop one the largest aquariums in Europe, next to El Muelle.

The shopping centre was inaugurated in 1989 by Riofisa. A decade later, in a state of advanced deterioration, the centre was sold to Caixa Catalunya, and then Sareb, which in turn sold it to BBVA. Riofisa agreed with Amid Achid to manage the centre. The president of the Port Authority, the socialist Luis Ibarra, extended the concession term until 2029. El Muelle, which is next to the cruise ship terminal, was valued at 90 million before the housing bubble burst. The centre has a supermarket owned by the group HD-Dinosol, a leader in the Canary Islands, and is also home to stores including Inditex, Cortefiel, Benetton, Pepe Jeans, Fund Grube, McDonald’s and Burger King.

Competition

The islanders are trying to accelerate negotiations with BBVA before the inauguration of a new shopping centre in Las Palmas, owned by the Domínguez brothers (co-owners of Dinosol).

The centre will be called Alisios and was designed by the same architectural office that designed El Muelle, Champ Taylor. Alisios, with an investment of 150 million euros, will have 120 shops, 2,500 parking spaces and 70 restaurants. It will employ 1,500 people.

In addition to El Muelle, other shopping centres such as Las Ramblas, La Minilla and Siete Palmas (all three include a Mercadona supermarket and are very close to Alisios) could change hands.

Original Story: Expansión ProOrbyt / José Mújica

Translation: Richard Turner

Lopesan Sells 3 Hotels In Canary Islands To HI Partners For €104M

2 June 2017 – Preferente

Lopesan is experiencing one of its most intense moments in its history and proof of that are the recent business operations that the company has undertaken. Specifically, it has purchased a package of more than 12 million shares in the construction company Sacyr (in a surprise move, Lopesan purchased 2.4% of Sacyr for €30 million); in addition, it has sold three of its hotels to the investor group HI Partners for more than €104 million, according to market sources.

The company has sold the following three hotel establishments, although it will continue to manage them: IFA Beach de San Agustín, the IFA Dunamar and the IFA Continental in Playa del Inglés, in Gran Canaria. This sale has already been reported to the German stock exchange.

Although the dates overlap, according to sources close to the Group’s President, the sales operation is not related to the purchase of Sacyr’s shares; “the Group owns lots of hotels that were constructed in the 1970s that need renovating, which means that it will invest the majority of this new capital in refurbishment projects”.

Another major project in which Lopesan is involved is the construction of a tourist complex with more than 1,000 rooms in the Dominican Republic. Specifically, it is working with its German subsidiary, IFA – in which it holds a majority stake – on this project, which forms part of its international expansion strategy and which will be incorporated into its portfolio.

Original story: Preferente

Translation: Carmel Drake

HI Partners Buy A Hotel From Lopesan For €42M

18 July 2016 – Expansión

HI Partners have completed a new operation in the hotel investment market. The subsidiary of Banco Sabadell has just acquired a four-star, 402-room hotel on Playa del Inglés, on the island of Gran Canaria for €42.4 million. Until now, the property, known as the IFA Catarina, which overlooks the Dunas de Maspalomas, belonged to the IFA Hotel & Touristik Group, which is listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange. That company is controlled by the Spanish hotel group Lopesan (52% stake), with whom HI Partners has signed a “sale and management back” contract, which means that it will continue operating the hotel after the sale.

The aim of HI Partners is to invest €7 million in IFA Catarina to refurbish its rooms and improve the hotel’s facilities, which will include areas dedicated exclusively to adult customers only.

This is the first operation that HI Partners has completed in the Canary Islands. This year, the hotel investment and management company has also purchased Hotel Terramar de Sitges (Barcelona) and its portfolio now contain 25 properties. In March, it joined forces with the US fund Starwood Capital to invest €500 million in the purchase of vacation hotels, although this operation falls outside of that agreement.

Original story: Expansión (by Sergi Sabori)

Translation: Carmel Drake