AXA buys pan-European portfolio of 11 hotels from Principal 

Global investment company AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets has entered into an agreement to acquire a pan-European hotel portfolio comprising a total of over 2,330 rooms from Principal Real Estate for a reported net price of €531 million (€227,000 per room, on average). All hotels are operated under long-term leases and include the Mondial Hotel am Dom MGallery in Cologne, two NH Hotels in Düsseldorf and Cologne, two Mercure Hotels in Berlin and Hanover, the IntercityHotel in Leipzig, the Steigenberger in Kiel, the Hilton Danube in Vienna, the Ibis Hotel The Hague City Center, the Lux Hotel Lisboa Park and the NH Hotel Turin Center.

Union Investment forward-funds Y-Towers in Amsterdam 

Frankfurt-based asset manager Union Investment is investing into what is set to become Amsterdam’s tallest building, the Y-Towers development scheme, in the north of Amsterdam, by acquiring the development company from IES Immobilien and Invester United Benefits. The high-rise buildings will comprise a 579-room Maritim conference hotel in one tower, while its counterpart is planned to accommodate 174 residential apartments as well as serviced apartmens on the lower 10 floors of its total of 33 floors. The project is valued at around €460 million and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2022.

Sofitel Gatwick North sold to Schroders on behalf of pension fund JV 

The Sofitel Gatwick North, situated at London Gatwick, the UK’s second busiest airport, has changed ownership for a reported £150 million (£289,600 per room). The transaction involves global asset and investment manager Schroders, who is acquiring the property on behalf of its clients – a joint venture between the two pension funds BAE Systems and Zurich Investment Foundation – from the Arora Hotels group. The hotel includes more than 460 sqm of office space and will continue to be operated by its previous owner, Arora Hotels, under a franchise agreement with AccorHotels.

Blackstone’s HIP agrees sale of two Spanish hotels to Hotusa 

The Sercotel Málaga and Acteon Valencia are being acquired by Barcelona-based Grupo Hotusa, from Blackstone’s Hotel Investment Partners (HIP), as part of the seller’s efforts to focus on larger holiday hotels comprising more than 200 rooms and typically located in highly frequented tourist areas. The sale of the two four-star hotels with a combined total of 341 rooms comes just one week after the seller announced the acquisition of five hotels on Greek Islands such as Corfu, Crete and Zante.

Solanet and Extendam acquire portfolio of 5 hotels in France 

Solanet Gestion Hotelière, a hotel operator and investor based in Paris, together with financial support from private equity firm Extendam, has acquired a portfolio of five hotels in France. The transaction includes Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express properties in Lille, Amiens, Clermont-Ferrand and Toulon and comprises a total of 442 rooms. Solanet currently operates some 40 properties and this deal represents its second collaboration with Extendam.

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