A fund from the J&T Group and the PPF Group are on the verge of a major hotel transaction. As co-owners of a five-star hotel in the historic center of London called The Westminster London, Curio Collection by Hilton, they agreed to sell the lucrative property if a good offer was made. Another co-owner, global hotel operator Westmont Hospitality Group, takes the same stance.
“We believe that after the difficult covid years, the hotel is currently very well prepared for long-term growth. At the same time, however, there is a consensus among the shareholders to sell the 100 percent share together in the event of an attractive offer,” J&T Arch Investments fund stated in its latest published quarterly report. He is among the investors in the BHP Hotels fund, which co-owns the London hotel.
“We receive occasional offers, but we do not actively take steps in this regard,” specified the spokeswoman of the J&T group, Monika Veselá. The PPF Group did not comment on the information. The hotel underwent an extensive reconstruction between 2019 and 2021. There are a total of 464 rooms in the accommodation facility.
The founder of the BHP Hotels fund and one of its investors is Branislav Babík, the longtime head of Best Hotel Properties. She works as an expert advisor to the BHP Hotels fund.
Among other things, Babík was involved in the best-known transaction of Best Hotel Properties, which was the acquisition of the InterContinental Hotel in Prague. In 2019, the iconic hotel in Pařížská Street was sold to investment company R2G by billionaire Oldřich Šlemr and the founders of Avast antivirus company Pavlo Baudiš and Eduard Kučer.
The hotel industry is growing in the world
The hotel industry is experiencing a recovery after falling during the covid pandemic. In April, for example, there was a transaction with a minority stake in the hotel chain Motel One, which also operates in Prague. The deal, in which the current majority owner acquired the remaining 35 percent of the company, valued Motel One Group at 4.1 billion euros.
But interesting transactions also take place in the Czech Republic. The highest Prague hotel Corinthia was recently acquired by the Czech Inn Hotels group for a long-term lease from hotelier Jaroslav Svoboda.
Another hotel transaction is about to take place right in the center of Prague. The American investment company Northwood Investors is selling the luxurious Four Seasons hotel there, wrote Hospodářské noviny.
Despite the favorable market situation, not all planned transactions will go through. The trade unions recently failed to sell the famous Imperial Hotel in Prague 1. It houses the restaurant of chef Zdenek Pohlreich. The trade unionists wanted over two billion crowns for the property.
