France's FdM makes first foray in the Netherlands

Foncière des Régions' hospitality arm Foncière des Murs has made its first acquisition in the Netherlands with the purchase of the four-star NH Amsterdam Centre hotel from NH Hotel Group for a total of €48 mln, including transfer taxes.

With the acquisition, FdM has secured a new hotel partner and made a step forward in its strategy to develop the business across Europe, the Paris-listed property firm said in a statement.

'We are delighted about this new partnership with a leading brand,' commented Dominique Ozanne, managing director of Operations for FdR and Chief Executive Officer of FdM.

The hotel provides 232 rooms, and is leased to NH Hotel under a 20-year triple net fixed-term lease.

FdM, which is 28.3% owned by Foncière des Régions, specialises in the service sector, especially in hotels, Healthcare and retail. The company, which owns over €3 bn of assets largely located in France and in Germany, has carried out an aggressive acquisition strategy over the past few months.

Earlier this year it signed a partnership agreement with B&B for the financing of nine new hotels in Germany over the next three years. The new B&B hotels, representing 900 rooms located in town centres of major German cities, are due to open by 2016.

The European hotel sector has emerged as one of the top performing property sectors last year offering returns of 6.6% versus returns of 5.9% for the wider market, according to the IPD Pan Europe Annual Hotels Index.

Hotels outperformed all property types in 2013 except industrial. Of the 12 countries measured, the UK saw the strongest performance in 2013 with a total return of 11.2%, more than double the 2012 figure of 5.2%. The UK was followed by Austria at 6.4%.