Ten London hotels and one luxury Paris landmark changed hands this week for more than €1 bn.
Starwood Capital's circa £800 mln acquisition of 10 Edwardian Group four-star Radisson Blu hotels, mainly in central London, was one of the biggest real estate deals in any category for over a year.
In Paris, Statuto Group paid €205 mln to buy the five-star Mandarin Oriental. The hotel is one of the most luxurious in the capital and Statuto already owns Milan's Mandarin Oriental.
The two transactions follow other hotel deals announced during January. Last week, LXi REIT confirmed it was selling 66 UK budget hotels to their operator, Travelodge, backed by Golden Tree Asset Management, for £210 mln.
And European investment group Archer Hotel Capital is currently very active, buying two Hoxton hotels in London this month for £215 mln, and tipped to buy Dublin's prestigious Shelbourne Hotel from Kennedy Wilson in the coming weeks. That is also likely to be a €200 mln-plus deal.
Paris's office market is not currently proving as attractive as its hotels. The 34,000 m2 Magnetik office complex in Montrouge in Paris's 14th has failed to sell for a third time in three years. It is part vacant.
JP Morgan AM and LaSalle IM bought the building on the southern ring road on behalf of flagship core+ funds, refurbished it in 2017 and tried to sell it for up to €350 mln in 2020. React News has reported that the latest buyer, Black Swan Real Estate Capital, pulled a €190 mln offer, citing rising capex costs.
Cash or low leveraged buyers continue to successfully pick off assets. Aviva Investors made two acquisitions this week: the manager bought six UK purpose-built student accommodation blocks from CBRE IM and Curlew Capital for £150 mln and a distribution centre in Leicester for £100 mln which BlackRock sold out of a UK fund.
Pontegadea, Inditex founder Amancio Ortega's private family office, spent €100 mln on a Dutch distribution hub let to Primark. Its chief executive told the Financial Times that it was 'a good time for investors with low debt' to buy and that Pontegadea is being offered a stream of assets off market.
AXA IM Alts followed up its acquisition of Paris's Bry-sur-Marne film studios last summer by exchanging contracts to buy the BBC Elstree Centre in greater London.
German-listed residential propco Vonovia issued its first ever sterling bond after a period last year when it focused only on secured borrowing. Its CFO said since December 2023, interest rates and spreads have developed in a way that 'makes financial bonds competitive again'.
