Riu Acquires Tui’s Stake in Riu Hotels & Resorts for €670m

Main Photo: The Riu London, due to have opened in 2020, but still in the pipeline

Date: May 2021

Locations: Across four continents – 19 countries

Name: Riu Hotels & Resorts

No. of Keys: 100 hotels, in 19 countries –

Seller: Tui, the German tour-operator has sold their 49% stake in Spanish Riu hotel chain

Buyer: Riu Group, a Spanish hotel chain, has announced the acquisition of Tui’s 49% stake in the Riu Hotels and Resorts brand for a sum of €670m (£576m).

Riu will now control the entire 100% stake in the brand, which stretches across 19 hotel properties in four different continents, as well as a further two scheduled openings.

Despite the sale, TUI will maintain its 50% stake in RIUSA II SA, the company that manages the Riu brand hotels.

The deal represents a continuation of the two groups’ relationship, as Riu claimed to be “supporting its strategic partner over the long-term”. As a result of the transaction, Riu said that it will gain “additional agility in confronting possible paradigm changes in the near future” in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.

For Tui, the sale shows a further contraction to the group’s portfolio, following March’s announcement that it would be closing 48 of its UK high street sites. Impacting 273 jobs in the process, Tui claimed that the closures came as a result of “unprecedented pressure” on the travel industry.

THPT Comment: Tour operators have had a double-whammy due to Covid..their core tour-operating business, their retail travel shops, their hotels and in some cases their airlines….the big guys like Tui are continuing to look for new hotels, but on a lease basis that than buy. Riu’s historic hotel base has been centred on resort locations, hence the JV with Tui, but will locations like London, still due to open in 2022, they have broadened their customer base reliance.

First Seen: Moving Abroad Newsletter

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