Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) and luxury hotel group Baglioni both have plans to sell off properties in their home market to fund their future expansion. MPS is planning to sell around EUR 500 mln worth of non-strategic properties, Antonio Vigni, Chief Executive Officer of the financial institution, told Italian papers.

Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) and luxury hotel group Baglioni both have plans to sell off properties in their home market to fund their future expansion. MPS is planning to sell around EUR 500 mln worth of non-strategic properties, Antonio Vigni, Chief Executive Officer of the financial institution, told Italian papers.

The company has a further EUR 1.7 bn worth of non-core real estate assets whose future is still unclear. The real estate disposals are part of the bank's strategy to fund its core business and boost its capital ratios, Vigni said.

Meanwhile, hotel group Baglioni said it is in advanced negotiations with a large hotel operator to sell its hotels in the cities of Bologna, Florence, and Verona. Roberto Polito, founder and owner of the group, said that the company is selling Grand Hotel Baglioni, Hotel Bernini Palace and Due Torri Hotel Baglioni to fund the expansion of the group abroad and plans to open four new hotels in the cities of London, Paris, Mumbai and Marrakesh.

'To pay for these large investments, we had to choose between going to the banks or selling some of our Italian properties,' he said. The company owns five luxury hotels in France, under the Relais chateaux brand, as well as one hotel in London.