Hotel news and transactions from around the European region: Sono acquires Hotel Dame des Arts in Paris, Limestone Capital acquires luxury resort in Sardinia and more...

Sono acquires Hotel Dame des Arts in Paris from TPG Angelo Gordon and EQ
South Korean hotel group Sono Hotels & Resorts, through its European arm Sono Hospitality BV, has acquired the four-star, 109-room Hotel Dame des Arts in Paris, France, from American alternative investment fund TPG Angelo Gordon and European hospitality investment platform EQ Group, for some €120 million (€1.1 million per room). Located in the Latin quarter in Paris’s 6th arrondissement near the Notre-Dame cathedral, the hotel will continue to be operated by EQ Group. The sellers acquired the property, then a Holiday Inn, in 2019 as part of a Parisian five-property portfolio for which they paid a reported €181 million, and then undertook an extensive renovation through 2021 and 2022 to reposition it into one of the Top 20 hotels in Paris as voted by Conde Naste readers. Sono presently owns a portfolio of 16 hotels and 10,000 rooms in South Korea, with this being the group’s first acquisition in Europe. HVS conducted valuation services on this asset.

Atalaya fund acquires Be Live Experience Lanzarote Beach, Spain
Atalaya, Andorra-based Andbanks’ investment fund managed by Spanish group Navis Capital, has acquired the four-star, 237-room Be Live Experience Lanzarote Beach in the Canary Islands, Spain, from an undisclosed seller. The hotel is located on the Costa Teguise on the eastern coast of Lanzarote island. The asset, previously managed by Be Live Hotels, will undergo a renovation programme at the cost of €4.5 million (€19,000 per room) to become both branded and managed by the THB Hotels group. With this transaction, the Atalaya fund is nearing full investment, having raised some €70 million upon launch in 2020 to invest in Spanish three- to four-star coastal hotels, and has a leverage of approximately 55%.

Limestone Capital acquires luxury resort in Sardinia, Italy
Switzerland-based hospitality-focused private equity group Limestone Capital AG has acquired a luxury resort in Sardinia, Italy, from an undisclosed buyer, with the aim to reposition the asset following a comprehensive capital expenditure plan. Located on Sardinia’s luxurious Costa Smeralda, the hotel is set to open in May 2024 under the group’s Aethos brand as a five-star, 64-room luxury resort and will offer fitness, yoga and wellness services and a ZAIA-branded restaurant outlet. This acquisition marks Limestone’s fourth Italian property, and its portfolio also comprises luxury assets in France, Spain and Portugal.

Andras House acquires ETAP Belfast in Northern Ireland
Northern-Irish hotel group Andras House has acquired the two-star, 146-room ETAP Belfast in Northern Ireland, from an undisclosed seller, for £7.35 million (£50,000 per room). The hotel, located some ten minutes by foot from the city centre of Belfast and five minutes from Belfast Central Station, is presently leased to Accor for a remaining six and a half years. Andras House is led by Rajesh Rana and its portfolio comprises ten hotels and eight commercial assets in Northern Ireland, with an 83-room hotel development currently underway in Portrush that is expected to open in 2025.

www.hvs.com