Fattal Hotels, the hospitality arm of Israeli firm Fattal Holdings, has expanded its European footprint in a €100 mln buying spree.
The chain, which is Israel's largest private hospitality firm, has signed deals in Portugal, the UK, Romania and Hungary since the turn of the year.
These include a €42 mln land deal in Lisbon which includes a 8,500 m2 listed building. Fattal plans to spend around €22 mln on building a 5-star property with 150 rooms on the site.
'Portugal has become one of the most attractive destinations in Europe in the last five years and has seen an 80% increase in the number of tourists entering it each year,' said the firm's founder, David Fattal.
'The Fattal network first entered Portugal last year and together with a hotel partner in the city of Porto we intend to deepen our hold on it,' Fattal added.
The firm has also inked a €17 mln deal for Budapest's 71-room M square hotel, which was renovated last year, and a €9.5 mln deal for the Golden Tulip Hotel in Bucharest. The latter asset has 81 rooms and is centrally located.
Fattal has furthermore purchased a site in Liverpool, UK, for €7.2 mln, where it intends to build a modern hotel with 210 rooms. The property's development will bring its holdings in the UK and Ireland to 52 hotels.
Fattal said it was considering financing its various projects with debt agreements worth up to 60% of each development. The deals to date have been funded by the company from its independent sources.
Fattal currently holds around 225 hotels, including development projects, in 20 countries. Some 93 hotels are owned by the company, 122 are leased and ten involve management services.
