Internos buys NH Hotel Cologne MediaPark for €29m

Internos Global Investors is acquiring NH Hotel Cologne MediaPark for €29 mln, the 12th acquisition for the European investor's hotel real estate fund since its first closing just over two years ago.

The vendor is InfraRed Capital Partners' Active Real Estate Fund II. Art-Invest Real Estate Management acted as InfraRed's asset management partner in the transaction.

The hotel is being operated on a long lease with the NH Hoteles Group from Spain. The 4-star property provides 217 rooms, a restaurant, bar and 10 conference rooms. It is located in Cologne’s city centre in the heart of the Mediapark complex, home to 250 companies.

Following this acquisition the fund will have close to €400 mln of AUM and is forecast to reach nearly €500 mln total AUM once all capital is deployed via further acquisitions currently in process. To date the fund has distributed dividends of over 8% per annum and achieved total returns in excess of 11% per annum since its first closing. Due to its predominantly fixed rents, long leases and very low interest rates, the fund is set to continue generating high annual income returns for the next few years, according to Internos.

Jochen Schäfer-Suren, head of the Internos hotel and leisure division and manager of the fund, commented: 'We will continue to acquire more hotels for this fund, which we launched with €75 mln of equity at first closing; but now have more than tripled equity, and expect to reach close to €300 mln equity and thus €500 mln AUM as its very high, yet secure income profile attracts institutional capital.'

Intrernos is actively pursuing further hotel purchases of up to €100 mln for the core fund as well as for its €200 mln hotel value-add mandate, Schäfer-Suren said.

'Moreover, we are now also exploring resort acquisitions and mezzanine debt financing of hotel development for one of our investors, highlighting how institutional investors are exploring new avenues for investment in the current interest rate context, allowing us to cover the entire hotel real estate investment spectrum across Europe as long as the risk return profile remains attractive.'