Blackstone Group is to take another of its companies public, with the group filing for a U.S. initial public offering for its travel-booking platform Travelport Worldwide Limited that was bought in 2006, according to Bloomberg.
Blackstone has slated a $100-million placeholder for the IPO and seeks to raise more than $500 million, with proceeds used to repay debt. Travelport is marketed under the names Apollo, Galileo and Worldspan.
According to the report, Blackstone acquired Travelport—which has not shown an annual profit since 2011 and has debts of approximately $3.5 billion—for $4.3 billion and in 2010 sought a London listing that was derailed by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.
Sovereign wealth funds are investing more money (across all real-estate sectors) than ever into the BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China, despite political and economic uncertainties, according to data from the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.
According to its numbers, approximately $4.6 billion was invested in the four economies in the first two quarters of 2014, a 5.7% increase from the same period in 2013. The institute contends that not all investment in the second quarter has been counted, but if trends continues, it is likely 2013’s full-year investment total of $18.5 billion will be surpassed by year-end 2014. That figure for full-year 2012 was $11.3 billion.
Brand companies and ownership groups increasingly are working together to source acquisition deals, finance projects and solve mutual problems, writes HNN’s Ed Watkins from the 36th annual New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference.
“One of the advantages of having a deep relationship with a small group of brand companies is that we are close with each of them and can understand what the brands can bring to our properties and our investments,” said Mark Brugger, president and CEO of DiamondRock Hospitality Company. “By contrast, a superficial relationship with many brands makes it harder to find win-win solutions to mutual problems.”
Lithuania is set to adopt the euro on 1 January 2015, following the European Commission’s agreement that the Baltic nation’s financial standing fulfills all of its membership criteria, according to the commission’s Convergence Report 2014.
Lithuania will become the 19th European Union nation to adopt the euro. Seven other nations in the report were not considered eligible for a variety of reasons, including apathy concerning the euro in countries such as Sweden. The other nations not making the grade were Bulgaria; Croatia; Czech Republic; Hungary; Poland; and Romania.
The other two Baltic nations, Estonia and Latvia already have adopted the euro.
The founder and majority shareholder of Spanish hotel company Meliá Hotels International Gabriel Escarrer approved the company’s 2013 results (published in May) and shareholder dividend payments and said at the annual shareholder meeting held yesterday that Meliá remained committed to Spain, according to a news release.
Escarrer added the company showed growth in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, excluding capital gains, of 28.3% and revenue per available growth increase of 5.2%. He added, “The improvement of all our margins and the positive outlook for demand in 2014, added to the financial adjustments made in 2013, (has) put us in an ideal position to manage a new period of recovery and achieve an important reduction in our debt.”
Compiled by Terence Baker.