Global hospitality group Accor has completed the buyback of 11 hotels in Switzerland from AXA Real Estate for CHF 219 mln (€180 mln).
Global hospitality group Accor has completed the buyback of 11 hotels in Switzerland from AXA Real Estate for CHF 219 mln (€180 mln).
Accor acquired the portfolio on behalf of its HotelInvest business, a month after it announced the acquisition of 86 hotels in Germany and the Netherlands for €900 mln from two funds managed by pan-European real estate private equity investment advisory firm Moor Park Capital Partners as part of a wider transaction.
Accor sold the Swiss assets to AXA Real Estate in 2008, after which the fund manager undertook a development and refurbishment plan to improve the performance of the hotels.
Accor has operated the 1,592-room Swiss portfolio since 2008 under variable-rent leases and the following brands: Ibis New (5 hotels), Ibis Budget (2 hotels), Novotel (3 hotels) and MGallery (1 hotel).
AXA RE HOTEL PORTFOLIO
With a hotel portfolio valued at €500 mln in 2007, AXA Real Estate has built up an asset base of over €2 bn across Europe. The portfolio includes all hotel categories, from budget to luxury.
CEO Pierre Vaquier of AXA Real Estate commented: 'This transaction demonstrates our ability to benefit from our significant hotel experience to identify opportunities to create value for our clients. In 2008, we acquired, on behalf of our clients, this portfolio at an advantageous point in the market cycle and then implemented development and refurbishment plans which would both increase the operational performance of the assets by making them more appealing to hotels’ customers. We have now crystallised that value for our clients through a disposal at a time when we can also benefit from the strength of the Swiss Franc.'