Vienna and Warsaw-listed property investor Warimpex has sold eight hotel properties in CEE to Thai investor U City Public Company for around €180 mln.
The eight hotels - two of which are 50% owned by UBM Development - comprise around 50% of Warimpex's total real estate assets. The price excludes the UBM stakes in two of the assets and is in line with June 2016 valuations.
'Since 2015, the transaction markets in CEE for hotel investments have become increasingly attractive again. We are taking advantage of this positive momentum. The current sale will broaden our scope of action significantly and we are thus well prepared for new projects,' said Warimpex CEO Franz Jurkowitsch.
The properties include assets in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania, and are all operated by Vienna House, which will continue to be responsible for the hotel management after the sale.
'We will use the proceeds from the sale to improve our capital structure and for new developments – potentially together with U City as a future partner, who takes a step into the CEE region for the first time. We continue to see our future in hotel and office developments in CEE and Russia, as the markets have matured and are developing further,' added Jurkowitsch.
Warimpex said that Poland would remain one of its core markets, with current development projects in Lódz and Krakow plus further investment plans in the pipeline.
The deal will increase the equity ratio of Warimpex to about 25% and should close by summer 2017.
Amber Privatstiftung and Bocca Privatstiftung, the two core shareholders of Warimpex, also signed an agreement to sell all their shares in Vienna International Hotelmanagement Aktiengesellschaft (Vienna House) to U City.
U City Public Company Limited is a listed Thai commercial property developer with a market capitalisation of THB 16.8bn (€453 mln). In April 2015, listed Thai conglomerate BTSG acquired a 35.64% stake in U City when it sold land plots and a hotel to U City in exchange for shares of the company.
