Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe (Blackstone) has reached an agreement to acquire five Greek hotel businesses from the Louis Group, one of the leading hotel groups in the Mediterranean, at a total enterprise value of €178.6m.
The five hotel businesses are located in the Greek Islands with two in Corfu (Corcyra Beach and Grand Hotel), two in Zante (Zante Beach and Plagos Beach) and one in Crete (Creta Princess). They have a total of 1,464 hotel rooms.
The hotels will continue to be operated by Louis Group under the management of HIP, a hospitality company owned by funds managed by Blackstone. HIP is the largest owner of hotels in Southern Europe, and the acquisition expands its footprint to Greece.
Through HIP, Blackstone will invest meaningful capital to renovate and reposition these hotels.
James Seppala, Head of European Real Estate at Blackstone, said: “Greece is a fantastic destination with an incredible history, wonderful weather, and meaningfully improving connectivity with the rest of the world. We are excited to invest here, to help Greece maintain its rightful place as a premier global tourist destination and spur local economic growth. This transaction reflects our confidence in the Greek investment environment and we hope to invest further.”
Costakis Loizou, Chairman of Louis Group, said: “We are delighted to announce this transaction with Blackstone. The transformation of these hotels will be a boost for the Greek tourist sector and we look forward to working with both Blackstone and HIP to enhance the experience of guests staying in these hotels.”
Alejandro Hernández-Puértolas, CEO and founding partner of HIP, said: “We are very pleased to announce our first investment outside of Spain, and more specifically in Greece, a country that is globally renowned for its leisure offering and unique locations. With this acquisition, we see an opportunity to add value by investing and actively managing the hotel businesses as we have done with the rest of our HIP portfolio”.
Completion of the transaction is subject to the customary approval of the relevant antitrust authorities.
About HIP
HIP was acquired by Blackstone real estate funds in 2017. Through follow-on acquisitions, HIP portfolio has grown to 65 hotels comprising 19,019 keys and is today the third largest investor in European hotels, after Pandox and Covivio. HIP has a dedicated team of 100 professionals who specialize in sourcing, executing, renovating and repositioning under-capitalized hotels. The team works in partnership with various hotel operators to enhance the hotels management as well as experience for the hotels guests. HIP is already investing €500 million into its existing portfolio of Spanish resorts.
About Louis Hotels
Louis Hotels is a Hotel company operating 26 hotels and resorts in Greece and Cyprus. It is a member of Louis plc, a company listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange, a leading hotels and tourism group in East Mediterranean, with over eighty years of experience.
