AccorHotels’ HotelInvest seeks to expand capital base: Following the close of AccorHotels Group’s $2.9-billion acquisition of FRHI Holdings Limited, the French hotel firm will transition its HotelInvest ownership division into a subsidiary to attract outside capital, Hotel News Now’s Terence Baker writes.
Company officials said the transition will take a year, and it will help propel the company’s ownership platform to new heights.
“(The decision) comes at a time when we know Accor needs expansion,” said Steven Daines, CEO, HotelServices, Northern Europe and Russia. “There is no plan to split the company, but it is a big difference between us and the asset-light U.S. companies. We can now attract large capital sources, institutional investors, pension funds, which will be looking for good returns.”
June pipeline: Numbers up in U.S., EMEA, APAC: STR’s June 2016 Pipeline report shows 522,324 rooms in 4,241 projects under contract in the United States. The total represents a 22.6% increase in the number of rooms under contract compared with June 2015. (STR is the parent company of Hotel News Now.)
The Middle East has 154,576 rooms in 550 hotels under contract, representing a 23.5% increase compared to last year. Africa has 55,736 rooms in 289 hotels under contract, representing a 29.1% increase. In Europe, 143,825 guestrooms in 941 hotels are under contract according to June pipeline numbers, representing a 10.1% increase compared with last year. The Asia Pacific region also saw in increase in rooms under contract, with 576,712 rooms in 2,508 projects reported in June, representing a 4% increase.
The number of rooms under contract in the Caribbean/Mexico region and the Central/South America region were down in June compared with last year, according to STR. Click here for additional pipeline data.
Whitbread’s Premier Inn leaving Asia: Officials with U.K.-based hotel and restaurant company Whitbread are shifting their international growth plans for Premier Inn and will soon “commence a phased withdrawal from its operations in India and South East Asia,” the company announced in a news release.
Company officials still plan to grow the brand’s presence in Germany and the Middle East.
“The impact of the cost associated with the withdrawal from South East Asia is not considered material,” the release states.
European governments to monitor OTA term changes: Several European nations have jointly launched a monitoring project to see how online travel agencies’ terms and conditions have changed in the year since Expedia and Booking.com were forced to remove certain rate-parity clauses and change most-favored nation requirements.
The U.K.’s anti-monopoly Competition & Markets Authority, along with the European Commission and nine other countries, will collect information to assess how recent developments have affected the market. Intelligence gathering will conclude by the end of 2016.
San Jose Marriott sold for $154 million: Officials with the Carey Watermark Investors 2 real estate investment trust have announced they have closed on a $154-million purchase of the 510-room San Jose Marriott in San Jose, California. The property, which sold for $302,000 per key, recently underwent a $10-million renovation.
CEO Michael Medzigian said the property was appealing because of “the limited supply of institutional quality assets in the Silicon Valley market.”
“With a strong current yield and expected solid risk-adjusted returns, the property’s central location and superior access within Silicon Valley should allow it to continue to outperform within its competitive set,” Medzigian said.
Compiled by Terence Baker.