Benson Elliot Hotel JV Generates €550m from 7 Disposals, Including 2 Westin Hotels

Date: November 2017

Location: Venice & Milan, Italy. Venice: views over the Grand Canal; Milan:

Name: Westin Europa & Regina hotel in Venice (pictured) and the Westin Palace in Milan, both five star.

No. of Keys: Venice: 180; Milan: 227

Seller: Prime Hotels Europe (JV: UK-based Benson Elliot, US-based Walton Street Capital, in partnership with hotel real estate specialist Algonquin Management Partners). The JV acquired the hotel portfolio (7 hotels) for €420m in xx and have sold these seven hotels of €550m in the past two years including the Sheraton Rome in July 2017.

Benson Elliot acquired its interest in the Prime Hotels portfolio on behalf of BEREP IV, its latest pan-European private equity real estate fund. The fund was oversubscribed in 2016, with €700m of capital at its disposal.

Buyer: Undisclosed, with Algonquin remaining as asset manager.

Price: Undisclosed

THPT Comment: After acquiring the Venice and Milan hotels, the JV developed and implemented bespoke asset management plans, including renegotiating management contracts to align the incentives of the operator, as well optimising revenue management and the operations of both assets.

Finally, the JV has prepared the Westin Venice and Westin Milan for major refurbishments that will be completed by the new owner and Algonquin Management Partners as asset manager.

First Seen: Property EU