Internos Global Investors, the pan-European owner-managed real estate fund manager, has secured the 10th asset for its first hotel vehicle after deploying €70 mln in the sector since the beginning of 2014.
Internos Global Investors, the pan-European owner-managed real estate fund manager, has secured the 10th asset for its first hotel vehicle after deploying €70 mln in the sector since the beginning of 2014.
Internos completed the acquisition of the Steigenberger InterCity Hotel Leipzig from B & L Gruppe on behalf of Hotel Real Estate Fund I. The investment volume came to about €21 mln.
The transaction follows on from the exchange of contracts in January 2014 for the acquisition of the Maritim Hotel Dresden for €49 mln from a fund managed by AXA Investment Managers.
Steigenberger InterCity Hotel Leipzig is the 10th hotel to be acquired for the hotel fund since its first closing 18 months ago. The InterCity Leipzig opened in May 2013 and is operated under a long lease by InterCity Hotels, a 100% subsidiary of Steigenberger Hotels. The property is a new 4-star hotel with 166 rooms, restaurant, bar and meeting facilities.
It is located next to the main train station and opposite the new shopping centre Höfe am Brühl in central Leipzig. The headquarters of the Saxony Landesbank is being developed next to the hotel.
Following these two recent acquisitions and commitments, assets under management for the Hotel Fund I will reach €310 mln. Based on recently raised and expected additional equity, total AUM is forecast to exceed €400 mln.
Jochen Schäfer-Suren, partner in charge of Internos' hotel and leisure division, commented: 'Despite tripling the equity raised since the first closing in July 2012, we have now deployed about 90% of the total equity in line with the investment strategy, while exceeding target income returns of 7.5% per annum. In addition we have two or three more acquisitions in progress and thus expect to deploy the remaining equity by this summer.'
Internos plans a second hotel fund later in 2014. Schäfer-Suren: 'We plan to launch a successor fund to our first hotel real estate fund focused on the same core, income oriented investment strategy and 3-4-star existing leased hotels across Europe. In parallel we are currently pursuing various opportunities to invest the €200 mln capital from the value add fund, which is focused on hotel real estate across Europe with capital growth opportunities via cyclical market recovery, renovations and repositioning such as changes to brands, leases or operators.'