Hispania Fights Off Competition from Blackstone to Acquire Alua Hotel Portfolio
Date: December 2017
Location: Canary and Balearic Islands – 7 hotels
Name: Alua Hotels – AluaSoul Palma, AluaSoul Mallorca Resort, AluaSoul Alcudia Bay, AluaSoul Ibizia and AluaSun Torrenova, in the Balearic Islands; and Ambar Beach and Parque San Antonio, in the Canary Islands.
Alua Hotel Ibiza
No. of Keys: 1,700
Seller: Alchemy Special Opportunities Fund
Buyer: Hispania – Azora Hotel Group, in which George Soros holds a stake. Hispania also own the Socimi Bay Hotels & Leisure (76% Hispania; 24% Barcelo Hotels), which bought the Hotel Sandos San Blas in Tenerfie in November 2017
In December 2017 Hispania bought Barcelo’s 24% for €172m to gain full control of the Socimi, and a further €19m for the Hotel Barcelo Guadalmina in Marbella.
A Socimi is the Spanish version of America’s REIT concept. The five strongest Spanish companies in the sector are Merlin, Colonial, Hispania, Axiare and Lar.
In 2013, PwC wrote an excellent report on the REIT concept covering 20 countries from several in Europe (Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Turkey & the UK) to Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, & USA.
The Socimi Bay Hotels & Leisure debuted on the stock market with a portfolio of 22 real estate assets, worth €790.39 million. They include 19 hotels, with 6,900 rooms, worth €756.29 million.
After formalising this operation, Hispania now owns almost 13,000 rooms across 45 hotels.
Currently, the valuation of the company is estimated to amount to more than €2 billion, mostly thanks to its hotel assets, although it also owns office buildings and homes.
Price: €165m
Price per Key: €97,059
THPT Comment: Hispania are clearly on a bent to increase their interest in hotels, in addition to offices and residential. The PwC report, albeit a few years old now, really does help explain the difference between the different country applications of REIT and Socimi rules.
First Seen: Aura Real Estate