Hotel industry and travel news from around Europe and the Middle East & African regions: Genova and KTI swap four properties near Stockholm, Investire to acquire Pantheon Iconic Rome Hotel, Accor merges its lifestyle brands and more...

Investire to acquire Pantheon Iconic Rome Hotel from De Agostino
Italian real estate fund Investire is expected to purchase the 79-room Pantheon Iconic Rome Hotel in Rome from Italian asset manager De Agostini Group for €62 million (€785,000 per room). De Agostini acquired the hotel for €48 million (€608,000 per room) as part of the sale of Sergio Scarpellini’s real estate assets in 2016. The hotel was fully renovated and reopened in March 2018 as part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection. The property is located on via di Santa Chiara in Rome’s historic centre, a stone’s throw from the 2,000-year old Pantheon.

LaSalle funds Exchange Square in Birmingham for Nikal
A client of LaSalle Investment Management has agreed to forward fund the second phase of the Exchange Square project in Birmingham, UK with developer Nikal Investments. The project will develop a 15-storey Premier Inn hotel with 235 rooms along with 550 sqm of F&B space and 460 sqm of retail. It will share a prime location in Birmingham, overlooking the future HS2 in Curzon Street. Although terms have not been disclosed, the second phase of the project has a development value of £120 million, with LaSalle’s investment estimated to be £38 million. A 37-storey apartment block containing 375 rental units is also being developed at the site in The Priory Queensway to complete phase two. Nikal signed contracts with Grainger earlier this year for the funding and delivery of the apartment tower. Phase one of the project, which developed 603 rental apartments and 2,550 sqm of retail space, was also forward funded by Lasalle for £105 million.

Accor has announced it is merging its lifestyle brands with London-based group Ennismore, owner of The Hoxton hotel chain. The new entity, which will operate under Ennismore’s name, will be two-thirds owned by Accor and one-third owned by Ennismore’s founder Sharan Pasricha, following the cash-free merger. It will operate ten of Accor’s lifestyle brands, including Mondrian, Delano and SLS (which Accor are acquiring full ownership of by increasing their stake in sbe from 50% to 100%), as well as Hoxton’s assets, which include nine hotels and Working From, a shared workspace company. - Read more here

Genova and KTI swap four properties near Stockholm
Sweden-based Genova Property Group has agreed to sell two properties in Sollentuna, Sweden (20 kms north of Stockholm), valued at SEK 111 million (€10.9 million), to Stockholm-based KTI Holdings. The assets include a 70-room extended stay hotel with an annual rental value of approximately SEK 6 million (€590,000). The deal is structured as a swap, with KTI in return selling two properties in Kungsängens, Sweden, which include a newly renovated pre-school with a 15-year lease and a newly renovated school with a 10-year lease. Total rental value is reported to be approximately SEK 6.6 million (€650,000).

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