Meliá Hotels International has reached an agreement selling hotels to a company which is owned by Bankinter and by Bankinter's high-net-worth and institutional customers
The operation has been led by Bankinter Investment.The transactions includes six hotels owned by Meliá, and its ownership in a company which owns two other properties, all of which will continue to be operated by Meliá Hotels International, which will allow it to generate capital gains of approximately €62 million and to retain 7.5% of the new company.
The value of the company is more than €200 million, it being comprised of eight assets which are premium properties based on their location and high potential, supported by a repositioning plan of more than €125 million.
MHI thus fulfils its commitment to carry out a sale in order to increase its liquidity following the crisis caused by COVID-19, also facilitating the immediate transformation of some assets, which, otherwise, would have been delayed.
Bankinter Investment, Bankinter’s Investment Banking department, reinforces its position as a leader in Spanish alternative investments, by launching a new investment vehicle for its customers.
Meliá Hoteles International and Bankinter Investment, Bankinter’s Investment Banking department, signed the sale today, by MHI, of 92.5% of a company which owns eight hotels, with the bank participating along with a small number of its high-net-worth customers and institutional investors.
The company, which will be renamed Victoria Hotels & Resorts, S.L. will be owned by Bankinter and by MHI, which will own 7.5% of the company.
The hotels included in the company are: Gran Meliá Victoria (Mallorca), Meliá Tamarindos (Gran Canaria), Meliá Granada, Sol Beach House Menorca, Meliá Salinas (Lanzarote), Innside Bosque (Mallorca) Meliá Atlanterra (Cádiz) and Innside Zaragoza. Each of the properties benefits from an excellent location, and substantive potential for revaluation by way of repositioning activities, anticipated during the sale transaction itself. Except for the Innside Bosque and Innside Zaragoza, which have recently completed renovations, all of the other hotels will undergo major renovations following the transaction, which will allow them to take advantage of the full recovery of tourism which is expected to coincide with the completion of these renovations. For these financing needs, Bankinter Investment is coordinating the financing structure necessary for the referenced hotel renovations with a CAPEX line of more than €125 million.
Similarly, GMA is included as a managing partner and a shareholder of the company
With the transaction, as part of Meliá’s asset rotation strategy, the Group seeks to improve its liquidity, maintaining in all cases the properties' management with long-term management contracts. Having high-quality assets, an internationally recognised operator, and strong management and credit are the main attractions for investors, at a time when the rebound in tourism demand as the result of vaccines and other measures has demonstrated the resilience of the sector.
For its part, by finalising this spread transaction, Bankinter reinforces its position as a leader in alternative investments within the Spanish market. During the last five years, Bankinter Investment has successfully launched 16 alternative investment vehicles with committed capital of more than 3 billion euros. It has a portfolio of assets under management of more than 5 billion euros, including project financing.
Bankinter has followed the model already implemented for previous alternative investment vehicles, by creating a company in which the bank's Private Banking customers and institutional investors have co-invested.
Furthermore, given the commitment of Meliá Hotels International, Bankinter and GMA to sustainability, the projects will take this criterion into account, and most of the planned reforms will include investments aimed at decarbonising the activity, as well as opting to benefit from appropriate national and European aid for this purpose.
About Bankinter Invesment and Bankinter:
Bankinter Investment is Bankinter's Investment Banking department, created six years ago; and it has just celebrated its first anniversary with this brand. In the last five years, it has successfully launched 16 alternative investment vehicles with committed capital of 3 billion euros, becoming a leading example of alternative investment in the Spanish market. Bankinter Investment has a portfolio of assets under management which is valued at more than 5 billion euros, including project financing. Asset management in all vehicles has followed the model of partnering with an expert company in each investment segment of each fund or SOCIMI, such as renewable energies, the hotel sector, student halls of residence, infrastructures, commercial real estate, private equity and venture capital, private equity and venture capital.
Bankinter is the fifth largest Spanish bank by size and the fourth largest by market capitalisation. It has more than 100 billion in assets, and is the most profitable financial institutions in the Ibex in terms of return on principal (RoE), as well as one of the most efficient among those with the highest asset quality.
About Meliá Hotels International
Founded in 1956 in Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Meliá Hotels International has more than 380 hotels open or in the process of opening in more than 40 countries under the brands Gran Meliá Hotels & Resorts, Paradisus by Meliá, ME by Meliá, Meliá Hotels & Resorts, INNSiDE by Meliá, Sol by Meliá and TRYP by Wyndham. The Company is a world leader in the holiday hotels segment and its experience in this field has allowed it to consolidate itself within the growing market for urban, leisure-inspired hotels. Its commitment to responsible tourism has caused it to be recognised as the most sustainable hotel in Spain and Europe for 2020 according to the latest SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment, as well as the seventh leading company in the world (and first in the tourism sector) in sustainable management, according to the Wall Street Journal. Meliá Hotels International is also part of the IBEX 35 and is the Spanish hotel company with the best corporate reputation (Merco Ranking).