Costa Mesa, California, USA - Burba Hotel Network (BHN), host of the upcoming Hotel Investment Conference Europe (Hot.E) 2015, is pleased to announce the winners of the inaugural Hot.E Deal of the Year Awards in the categories of Merger & Acquisition/Portfolio of the Year and Single Asset Transaction of the Year. The awards were presented at Hot.E on 29 September 2015, at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower.
Jin Jiang International's acquisition of Louvre Hotels was named Merger & Acquisition/Portfolio of the Year. Jin Jiang International acquired Louvre Hotel Group from Starwood Capital for €1.2 billion in March 2015. The transaction included 1,136 hotels worldwide. This deal results from a long-term relationship; the two companies had been partnering for four years with a distribution agreement for hotels in China and in France. Finalists in this category also included Lone Star's acquisition of Jurys Inn and Frasers Hospitality's acquisition of Malmaison Hotel du Vin.
Limulus Ltd.'s acquisition of Ace Hotel, London, Shoreditch UK, from Starwood Capital Group was named Single Asset Transaction of the Year. In April 2015, Starwood Capital Group sold the innovative boutique Ace Hotel in London Shoreditch for an undisclosed sum to Limulus Ltd., which was advised by The Deerbrook Group. With an asking price of £150 million or slightly over £580, 000 per bedroom this transaction has set a newbenchmark for hotel pricing in trendy East London, clearly illustrating the narrowing gap between East and West London hotel pricing. This tremendous opportunity attracted over £1 billion of equity from all over the globe, further reflecting the insatiable appetite for London hotel real estate. Finalists in this category also included Cereberus Capital Management L.P. and Orion Capital's acquisition of Sotogrande, Cadiz, Spain, from NH Hotel Group and Sunworld Dynasty's acquisition of The St. Ermin's Hotel, London, UK, from Angelo Gordon & Co, Amerimar Enterprises and Gracemark.
The Hot.E Deal of the Year Awards were established to recognize the companies responsible for some of the most influential hospitality industry investments occurring in the European marketplace over the course of the past year. Charles Human of HVS, Hodges Ward Elliott, chaired the Merger & Acquisition/Portfolio of the Year Award committee and Chris Day of Christie + Co, chaired the Single Asset Transaction of the Year Award committee. The two committees were comprised of hotel industry leaders who selected, reviewed, and nominated deals. The finalist information was then sent to the Hot.E delegates for voting.
For more information about Hot.E or the inaugural Hot.E Deal of the Year Awards, visit the Hot.E website.