Qatari group acquires SEB hotel in Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz

Qatari investor Al Faisal Holding is acquiring the five-star Grand Hyatt hotel in Berlin-Mitte from SEB Asset Management.

The sale was carried out on behalf of the SEB ImmoInvest open-ended real estate fund, which is under liquidation.

SEB, a German fund manager, signed a sales agreement with Al Rayyan Tourism and Investment (ARTIC), a subsidiary of Al Faisal Holding.

Designed by Spanish architect José Rafael Moneo, the luxury hotel offers 342 bedrooms and is part of the Quartier Potsdamer Platz complex, which comprises 19 properties over a gross floor space of 550,000 m2. In total, the ensemble has a value of nearly €1.5 bn.

The companies kept the sales price confidential.

This is Al Faisal's second acquisition of a Berlin hotel property belonging to SEB ImmoInvest’s portfolio. At end-December, the company also bought the 505-room Maritim Hotel, located in the Diplomatic Quarter of Berlin’s Tiergarten district. The asset was last valued at over €186 mln, and is believed to have been sold for €180 mln.

With this agreement, Artic's portfolio of hotels either in operation or under development has reached 25 properties, located across the Middle East and North Africa, Europe and North America.

The investment management arm of Swedish financial group SEB announced last year that it was to liquidate its €6 bn ImmoInvest fund after failing to meet investor withdrawals, largely owing to a major crisis of confidence in Germany's open-ended fund industry.