Mergers & Acquisitions

🏨 Criterion Capital acquired the 732-room St Giles London Hotel from IGB Berhad for £220 million. LondonMetric purchased nine Premier Inn hotels with 955 rooms for £89 million, and Hoteles Globales acquired three hotels in Mallorca with 488 rooms from Cerberus. ECE acquired Staybridge Suites in Liverpool and Newcastle for £25 million, and Bagatelle purchased Hôtel La Pérouse in Nice for €60 million. Alfred Hôtels acquired Hôtel Lecourbe in Paris for €17.2 million, while Cretan Investment Group bought Hilton Garden Inn Athens Syggrou Avenue.

💸 China Merchants Commercial REIT acquired Habyt Austin Avenue for HKD206 million in Hong Kong, priced at HKD7.1 million per key. The 19-storey building, near Hong Kong Polytechnic University, will be transformed into student housing with 85 beds. One REIT Inc purchased Candeo Hotels in Kyoto for JPY4.8 billion, a 7% discount. Gaw Capital bought a Queenstown site for NZD31 million. EVT acquired QT Auckland for NZD87.5 million and sold Rydges Geelong for AUD24.5 million.

💰 HBX Group plans to return up to €100 million to shareholders via a share buy-back, pending approval at the AGM next month. The buy-back will be executed by Bank of America during FY26 and FY27. Regular dividends will begin in FY 2026 with a 20% annual payout ratio, subject to profits and reserves. CEO Nicolas Huss cites a strong financial profile and confidence in the Group’s strategy as motivations for this initiative.

📈 Kasa and Mint House have joined forces, integrating nearly 1,000 national units into Kasa's platform, including the iconic 70 Pine building in Lower Manhattan. This strategic move broadens Kasa’s reach across key U.S. markets—Washington, D.C., Dallas, Nashville, St. Petersburg, and Tampa. With this transaction, Kasa enhances operational efficiency and guest experience, leveraging its history of 35 successful transitions and commitment to high-tech, high-service hospitality. Mint House CEO Christian Lee joins Kasa as a Senior Advisor.

🏠 Criterion Capital acquired the St Giles London Hotel on Tottenham Court Road for £220 million, adding 732 rooms to its West End portfolio. This January 2026 deal reunites the hotel and its underlying car park, previously transformed into an underground hotel under the Zedwell brand. CEO Asif Aziz aims to expand to 9,000 rooms by 2029. Criterion's current West End portfolio now boasts 3,700 operating hotel rooms.