Clal acquires 49% stake in two London hotels from PPHE

Israel-based Clal Insurance has acquired a 49% stake in a new JV with PPHE (formerly Park Plaza Hotels Europe) for £113.7 million. The JV holds two assets, being the 645-room Park Plaza London Riverbank, as well as the £200 million, 343-room art’otel London Hoxton development project in Shoreditch. The deal values the Riverbank property and the all-in development cost budget of the art’otel at £542.3 million (€548,000 per room, less the value of some 5,000 sqm of office space in the art’otel project). The special purpose company will indirectly hold the real estate and operations of the two assets, and Clal will also invest a further £12.1 million into the art’otel project, which is scheduled to be completed in early 2024.

Union forward buys Premier Inn Castleforbes in Dublin

Irish developer Glenveagh Properties has forward sold the 262-room Premier Inn in Castleforbes development in the Dublin Docklands to German institutional investor Union Investment for a reported €70 million (€267,000 per room). Construction of the hotel is scheduled to begin next month with expected completion in autumn 2023. The development includes a reported 1,256 apartments, 12,545 square meters of office space and a second 219-room hotel. The transaction marks the third major Dublin hotel sale in the past two months, following Zetland Capital’s acquisition of Dublin’s Morrison hotel last month and MHL Hotel Collection’s acquisition of the Moxy Dublin City hotel.

Ascott and QIA acquire livelyfhere Gambetta Paris

Singapore-based REIT The Ascott Limited and sovereign wealth-fund Qatar Investment Authority have acquired the 139-room livelyfhere Gambetta Paris on behalf of their jointly owned Ascott Serviced Residence Global Fund. The acquisition is part of a two-property portfolio, which also includes the 364-room Somerset Metropolitan West Hanoi. The combined price for the two assets is a reported €131.5 million (€261,000 per room on average). The two properties will be acquired on a turnkey basis, and are expected to open in 2024. Following the completion of renovation works at the Paris property, the hotel will relaunch as Ascott’s first co-living property in Europe under the lyf brand.

Castleforge acquires Hilton Cardiff

UK-based private equity firm Castleforge Partners has acquired the 197-room Hilton Cardiff in the Welsh capital for an undisclosed price, from a private owner who had owned the property for fourteen years. The seven-floor hotel has views over Cardiff Castle and the city’s Edwardian civic centre. The deal quickly follows Castleforge’s debut entry into the hospitality sector in May, when it acquired the Best Western Plus Bruntsfield Hotel in Edinburgh.

Ibis Styles Reading Oxford Road, UK acquired by private investor

The 97-room Ibis Styles Reading Oxford Road has been sold off a guide price of £4.5 million (£46,000 per room) to a private investor. The purpose-built property in west Reading, UK was marketed on a current or alternative use basis with a supportive pre-application for development into a six-storey apartment block with 73 residential units. The new buyer intends to continue to operate the property as a hotel.

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