Corcyra Beach in Corfu island
The five hotel businesses are located in the Greek Islands with two in Corfu (Corcyra Beach and Grand Hotel), two in Zante (Zante Beach and Plagos Beach) and one in Crete (Creta Princess). They have a total of 1,464 hotel rooms.
BARCELONA, ATHENS – Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe (Blackstone) has reached an agreement to acquire five Greek hotel businesses from the Louis Group, one of the leading hotel groups in the Mediterranean, at a total enterprise value of €178.6m.
The five hotel businesses are located in the Greek Islands with two in Corfu (Corcyra Beach and Grand Hotel), two in Zante (Zante Beach and Plagos Beach) and one in Crete (Creta Princess). They have a total of 1,464 hotel rooms.
The hotels will continue to be operated by Louis Group under the management of HIP, a hospitality company owned by funds managed by Blackstone. HIP is the largest owner of hotels in Southern Europe, and the acquisition expands its footprint to Greece.
Through HIP, Blackstone will invest meaningful capital to renovate and reposition these hotels.
James Seppala, Head of European Real Estate at Blackstone, said: “Greece is a fantastic destination with an incredible history, wonderful weather, and meaningfully improving connectivity with the rest of the world. We are excited to invest here, to help Greece maintain its rightful place as a premier global tourist destination and spur local economic growth."
“This transaction reflects our confidence in the Greek investment environment and we hope to
invest further.”
The net sale price and the resulting accounting profit will be determined at the closing of the sale. This will follow the completion of the separation of the businesses to be sold via a partial demerger, estimated to take place on or around the end of 2019. Louis Hotels considers its long lasting and successful presence in Greece as of paramount importance, will continue its autonomous presence in the country and will focus on the enhancement of the hotel management sector.
Costakis Loizou, Chairman of Louis Group, said: “We are delighted to announce this transaction with Blackstone. The transformation of these hotels will be a boost for the Greek tourist sector and we look forward to working with both Blackstone and HIP to enhance the experience of guests staying in these hotels.”
Alejandro Hernandez-Puertolas, CEO and founding partner of HIP, said: “We are very pleased to announce our first investment outside of Spain, and more specifically in Greece, a country that is globally renowned for its leisure offering and unique locations. With this acquisition, we see an opportunity to add value by investing and actively managing the hotel businesses as we have done with the rest of our HIP portfolio.”
Completion of the transaction is subject to the customary approval of the relevant antitrust authorities.
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She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
