Hotel Riviera, Málaga
Up until the end of the year, the so-called Azora European Hotel & Lodging should attract a further 70 million euro, reaching a total of 750 million euro. But it should go even further since it expects to reach 1.500 million euro during the next three years.
It has under its radar mainly hotels located in Southern Europe, but company sources reported to newspaper Expansión that there is a strong inclination towards Iberia, since 50% of the total should be invested in Portugal and Spain. The other half should be invested in Italy, Croatia and Greece. This attraction towards Iberia, which is currently seen as a reference in terms of tourism, is justified by the company’s intent to allocate most of this investment (between 65% and 75%) to leisure hotels. The remaining 25% to 35% should be invested in the urban hotel segment.
In order to move forward with these investments during the pandemic, Azora has the support of a group of investors, amongst which Dutch fund APG and group Canepa, and their experience on the hotel market acquired from managing REIT Hispania, which was purchased by Blackstone two years ago. Despite the turbulence, the new coronavirus caused to the segment, the company’s know-how will allow it to advance with security within this market, which it sees as a good mid to long-term bet.
Portfolio already has 14 hotels
Fund Azora European Hotel & Lodging started with a portfolio which represents 20% of its investment capacity. The hotels acquired by the Spanish management company throughout the year were incorporated into its portfolio which now has 14 assets, of which 7 were purchased from Med Playa and are spread across Torremolinos, Malaga and Benidorm; three hotels are located in the Balearic Islands and in Sicily as a result of the partnership with Palladium; and 4 hotels are located in Madrid, Bilbao, Lisbon and Brussels and should be refurbished. These units represent a total of 2.800 beds.
