Alantra's real estate debt fund announced this week that it has financed the purchase of the first investment made by the Atalaya Project, a new hotel investment platform created by private equity firm Navis Capital, together with Andorran lender Andbank and hotel operator THB.
The acquisition involving the San Fermín hotel in Benalmádena, Malaga, Spain, is part of the platform's strategy to invest more than €160 mln in three and four-star resort hotel assets in key Spanish tourist locations.
The hotel will be managed by the hotel operator THB Hotels, Atalaya's industrial partner. The three-star hotel has 316 double rooms, and Navis expects to spend more than €5 mln on renovating rooms, improving common areas and sports facilities.
This transaction marks the second investment by the real estate debt fund managed by Alantra. The fund offers loans of between €7 mln and €25 mln to companies owning or developing commercial real estate assets in Spain and other European countries.
The fund's strategy is based on financing transactions such as the acquisition of real estate assets, refinancing existing debt, refurbishment and/or repositioning works, or the development of real estate assets. The €140 mln fund includes a diverse group of national and international institutional investors such as insurance companies, pension funds, banks, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals.
‘We are very pleased to have made this initial hotel acquisition, which is the first in a portfolio of between five and eight hotels that we expect to configure in the next two years,’ said Stephan Koen, partner of Navis Capital. ‘The objective is to position Hotel San Fermín as the model three-star hotel in Benalmádena, differentiating it from the hotel offer in the area, mostly composed of four-star hotels. The financing agreement reached with Alantra allows us to optimise the expected profitability of this investment.’
Jaime Cano, partner at Alantra Private Debt, said: ‘This transaction is perfectly aligned with one of the debt fund's investment criteria, which is to provide medium to long-term flexible financing solutions to sophisticated and experienced real estate sponsors looking to repositioning and grow the acquired assets. We are delighted to have been able to support Navis Capital and its other partners in this transaction.’
