Xcentric Hotels Sell Eight easyHotels to easyHotel Ltd For €145m
Main Photo: eastHotel Brussels City Centre
Date: October 2022
Name: easyHotel Benelux
Locations: Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Maastricht – Netherlands and Brussels, Belgium.
Number of Keys: 793
Seller: Xcentric Hotels BV, an affiliated business of Crossroads Real Estate, a European real estate private equity and special situations fund manager, founded by former Och-Ziff MD David Gillerman.
Buyer: easyHotel Ltd, the franchisor for the easyHotel brand
Xcentric Hotels BV, an affiliated business of Crossroads Real Estate, has sold it’s easyHotel Benelux portfolio to long-term franchisor easyHotel Ltd. The deal, worth approximately €145m, includes eight hotels across five locations: Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Maastricht and Brussels.
With growing demand for affordable hotel accommodation in the region, the acquisition of easyHotel Benelux is a strategic move for easyHotel Ltd. As well as the eight hotels covering 793 rooms, the deal includes a management platform and the easyHotel Benelux master franchise agreement. A new loan facility has been agreed with the incumbent lender, demonstrating their confidence in the business and long term commitment.
JLL acted as the exclusive sell-side M&A advisor for Xcentric Hotels BV, and was first appointed in 2019 to provide strategic advice in regard to various exit strategies of the platform, continued to provide ongoing advice throughout the pandemic and refinancing, and eventually placed the deal with the buyer as part of a targeted sale process.
“This sale re-confirms that strategic deals continue to appeal to investors, despite the changing global headwinds we are facing, said Jurrian Dompeling, Senior Vice President, EMEA Hotel Capital Markets at JLL. “The portfolio has demonstrated exceptionally strong trading performance in recent years, including resilience during the pandemic and a rapid recovery in 2022. We wish easyHotel Ltd all the best with further growing the business across Europe.”
David Gillerman, CEO of Crossroads Real Estate, said: “Following a longstanding franchise agreement with easyHotel Ltd, Crossroads is delighted with the success and growth across this portfolio of eight very well situated hotels, especially its performance since the end of the pandemic. We would like to thank all of the employees of easyHotel Benelux for their hard work during their time with us and wish them all the best for the future with easyHotel Ltd. We would also like to thank JLL for their support during the process.”
This acquisition marks the latest step in an ambitious European growth strategy which the Group, founded by Stelios Haji-Iannou and whose majority shareholders are now ICAMAP and Ivanhoé Cambridge, had announced in December 2021, with notably a €50m capital increase.
“Now is an exciting time to be part of the easyHotel business,” commented easyHotel CEO Karim Malak. “We’re delivering our growth plan to increase our presence in Europe and the transaction is a fantastic demonstration of our intentions. It comes at a time we are seeing strong trading across both our UK portfolio and the Benelux hotels, with figures exceeding 2019 levels and outperforming the market. Our pipeline is in a strong position for us to continue to develop and grow the easyHotel brand. We look forward to continuing to provide our customers with affordable hotel stays and growing the easyHotel brand both through acquisitions and organic development, whether freehold, leasehold or franchise”
With two further hotels to be added to the Group’s owned/leased portfolio in Dublin in December 2022 and Paris in early 2023, the acquisition underpins significant growth in easyHotel’s owned/leased estate. This will reach 26 hotels, split evenly between the UK and Europe, with the total number of owned hotel rooms across the portfolio increasing by 59% to 3,078 rooms.
easyHotel currently has a total of 42 owned/leased and franchised hotels, which it aims to expand to 51 hotels in 13 countries over the next 18 months, and to reach a total of 100 owned and franchised hotels internationally by 2026. Whilst the acquisition will strengthen the Group’s owned portfolio, easyHotel remains committed to its franchised network, which is instrumental to its growth strategy, with a target of 12,000 franchised rooms by 2027. The next franchise hotel opening in the Group’s pipeline will be Madrid, in the central Atocha area, with a 230-bedroom hotel due to open in late 2022.
Xcentric Hotels was advised by JLL (M&A), Goodwin Procter and DLA Piper (Legal) and Deloitte (Financial/Tax).
easyHotel Ltd was advised by Loyens & Loeff (Legal/Tax), CMS (Legal) and PwC (Financial).
Price: €145m
Price Per Key: €183k
THPT Comment: We understand there was a fair legal battle, lasting some five years with the borrower, a Dutch entrpreneur…
First Seen: JLL press release and Hospitality Net
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