Investor H.I.G. Capital Buys The Former Swissotel in Basel, Switzerland

Main Photo: The hotel that was the Swissotel Le Plaza Basel

Date: August 2021

Name: Was The Swissotel Le Plaza Basel

Location: Opposite the Messe (trade fair halls) Basel, Switzerland

Number of Keys: 238

Seller: The Swissôtel Basel was declared bankrupt by a Basel court in early 2021. The hotel was heavily dependent on the city’s primary trade fairs, upto 60% of revenue came from trade fair bookings.

The hotel typically imposed a 10-day minimum stay for Baselworld leading to a bill of about 7000 Swiss francs per room – the Swissôtel Basel was a place where you could spot Thierry Stern, any one of the Hayeks who control Swatch Group, and the occasional Bugatti parked in front.

It was managed by Accor, the French group that owns the Swissôtel brand, the property was owned by a Credit Suisse real estate fund that also owns the Swissôtel Zürich, which has also gone bust.

Buyer: Investor H.I.G. Capital LLC , a leading global alternative investment firm with $45 billion of equity capital under management, announced that an affiliate has acquired a 238-room hotel property previously housing the Swissôtel Basel. The property will undergo a major renovation program and a rebranding.

Riccardo Dallolio, Managing Director and Head of H.I.G. Europe Realty in London, commented: “This is our first transaction in Switzerland and it demonstrates our ability to source high-quality value-add opportunities in core European markets. After the implementation of a major renovation program and the re-branding of the hotel, we believe this asset will be in a strong position to capture the recovery in leisure, events and corporate sectors”.

Baptiste Boye-Møller, Principal at H.I.G. Europe Realty, added: “This investment is yet another example of our commitment to the European Hotel & Leisure market. H.I.G. is aggregating a sizable portfolio of hotel assets in the DACH and Scandinavian regions, which benefit from attractive fundamentals, supported by a strong local demand-base”.

In March 2021, H.I.G. acquired the 170 room Hotel Ullensvang in Norway.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion.

THPT Comment: H.I.G. building up a nice portfolio of hotels in Europe.

First Seen: H.I.G. press release

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