Portuguese ECS Puts Portfolio of 20 Nau Hotels For Sale at More Than €1bn

Locations: Lisbon, Alentejo and Algarve, Portugal

Names: Various, managed by Nau Hotels – flagship is five-star Palacio do Governador, Lisbon and Lago Montargil & Villas, with many, four and five star hotels in the Algarve

Guide Price: North of €1bn

No. of Keys: TBA

The Opportunity: This portfolio, owned by ECS, initially acquired in 2013 and over the intervening years, trades under the Nau brand. ECS, co-founded by Antonio de Sousa, a former chairman of state-owned bank Caixa Geral de Depositos SA and a former central bank governor, has in less than five years become the 10th-biggest hotel group in Portugal, with 3,699 beds, according to Deloitte’s Portuguese Hospitality Atlas of 2016. ECS took over Saraiva’s hotels, some of which had completely shut down, and currently manages them under the NAU Hotels & Resorts brand.

It is understood that several private equity firms, including Blackstone, Apollo, Fortress, Bain and the likes are in the running. The portfolio does include some development land and smaller commercial assets and the starting price was at €1.4bn. According to Property EU, it is thought the hotels will fetch north of €1bn.

The bidders are being advised by the “big guns” and unclear if ECS are being represented by anyone….

Main Picture: The Lago Montargil & Villas, Alentejo

Current Owners: ECS Capital

Flag and Management: Nau Hotels

Tenure: Freehold, we believe

Agent: None appointed….Maybe too late, but THPT will enquire

Guide Price: North of €1bn

Date Posted: February 2021

THPT Comment: As we say, clearly discussions are well under way, and equity funds that can afford €1bn are probably already on this….but who knows?

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This is a new feature on the THPT site…. Hotel & Serviced Apartment owners can be naturally reticent in publicising their property is for sale…for confidentiality reasons, for staff and current client reasons, so the properties featured in this section will either be “generic” or “name specific”

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