Intesa bank acquires 5% stake in NH Hotels

Italian bank Intesa has acquired a 5% stake in NH Hoteles for EUR 95 mln, unnamed financial sources have told Spanish news agency Europa Press.

The acquisition is an attempt to protect the hotel group from stake-building by Hesperia, which holds a 23% stake in NH Hotels, the Spanish newspaper El Economista said. In 2003, the group made an unsuccessful bid for the NH Hotels.

Intesa holds 49% of the hotel group's operations in Italy. The bank, founded in 1998, adopted the name Intesa in 2003. On December 18, the group announced it signed a contract to sell a portfolio of residential mortgage loans for EUR 3.6 bn.

The loans will be sold to a corporate vehicle, funded via the issue of mortgage-backed bonds, the bank said in a press release. The bonds are expected to be offered in the first quarter of 2007. Further details for the transaction were not disclosed.