Azora is in the final stages of finalising the sale of a portfolio of hotel assets from its Azora European Hotel & Lodging (AEHL) fund, a transaction that could be worth between €500 million and €600 million, according to El Confidencial. The deal is at an advanced stage and could be completed before the summer.
The transaction would involve the divestment of approximately one-third of the hotel vehicle, created in 2021 with a planned liquidation date of 2028. With this timeline in mind, the company had already anticipated the need to begin a phase of gradual asset sales. In this context, Javier Arús, partner in charge of Hospitality & Leisure at Azora, explained at the start of the year that the aim was to divest in an orderly manner. The priority, as he stated at the time, was to maximise the value of the assets and ensure the return of capital to investors under the best possible conditions.
The first move in this new phase of asset rotation took place in February, when Azora agreed to sell its 75% stake in three hotels – Bless Ibiza, TRS Ibiza and Grand Palladium Sicilia Resort & Spa – to Grupo Empresas Matutes, the owner of Palladium, for around €300 million.
Last year, Azora acquired full control of the MedPlaya group, which operated 15 hotels in Spain with approximately 4,000 rooms. The transaction included the acquisition of six hotels with over 1,300 rooms, following the investment fund’s purchase in 2019 of seven hotels in Benidorm and on the Costa del Sol that were being operated by the group under lease agreements.
The asset manager’s portfolio currently comprises 54 owned properties and some 13,000 rooms, mainly spread across Spain, Italy and Portugal. In Spain, it has a strong presence in tourist destinations such as the Costa del Sol, Catalonia and Benidorm. In addition, it has properties on the Costa Brava and city-centre hotels under the Latroupe brand in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao. In Portugal, the company has a particularly strong presence in the Algarve, with leading resorts such as the Vilalara Thalassa Resort and the Tivoli Vilamoura, as well as hotels in Lisbon and Porto.
