Mergers & Acquisitions

🍴 Friendly's franchisee Amol Kohli acquired BRIX Holdings LLC, including Friendly's®, Clean Juice®, and more, in 2025. BRIX remains headquartered in Dallas. Kohli, since 2009, owns 30+ Friendly's on the East Coast and plans expansion into Georgia, the Carolinas, and Texas. In 2024, BRIX saw positive same-store sales, and in 2025, opened several locations. Eight new franchises are underway. Sherif Mityas continues as CEO. Legal representation: Dilworth Paxson LLP for buyers, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP for sellers.

🗺 Meliá Hotels International and Bankinter Investment will jointly own the Paradisus Salinas Lanzarote for 10 years, following a strategic acquisition aimed at expanding Meliá's luxury portfolio in the Canary Islands. The repositioning of the hotel, supported by an investment of over €125 million, enhances its alignment with Paradisus brand standards. Meliá now holds a 53.75% stake, reflecting confidence in Lanzarote's potential as a premium, year-round destination. This move follows Meliá's recovery to pre-pandemic debt ratios.

🌎 TravCorp Holdings Ltd has acquired Specialist Holidays Group from Travelopia, adding Citalia, American Holidays, and Sovereign Luxury Travel to its portfolio. Led by Helen Adamson, who remains as Managing Director, this acquisition is backed by BGF and aims to enhance TravCorp's growth strategy under CEO Andy Freeth and Chair Andrew Botterill. The acquisition strengthens TravCorp's reputation for customer-centered service and destination knowledge.

🏨 CitizenM's CEO, Lennert de Jong, discussed their strategic partnership with Marriott on Matthias Huettebraeuker's podcast. citizenM, with 36 assets, sold its brand to Marriott, marking one of Marriott's largest deals since Starwood. This collaboration allows citizenM to leverage Marriott's distribution platform, including access to 250 million Bonvoy users, while maintaining its ownership of real estate, which constitutes 90% of its value. New openings include Dublin and London, Soho, reflecting ongoing growth and operational integration.

🏨 UK, 2025: PPHE Hotel Group acquires a 13,000 sqm site near Tower Bridge for £90 million, including £17.5 million for the site. A Radisson RED hotel with 182 rooms, a restaurant, bar, gym, and 41,000 sqft of office space is set to open in 2029, targeting a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating. Expected high single-digit annual yield. Second acquisition by PPHE's hospitality fund includes financing for construction post-approval.

🏨 UK, June 2025: RE Capital sold the Ruby Stella hotel in Farringdon, London, to LaSalle Investment Management for £48 million. The hotel, featuring 153 rooms, a restaurant, and a bar, launched in November 2024 as Ruby's 20th European hotel. It boasts a BREEAM Excellent rating and an EPC A6. Savills advised RE Capital, with Constantine RE and Gowling WLG representing LaSalle.

📍 Italy: In 2025, COIMA SGR acquired €54 million in debt for the Grand Hôtel des Bains in Lido di Venezia and plans to invest €200 million to restore it after 15 years of closure. Opened in 1900, the hotel inspired Thomas Mann’s "Death in Venice." It closed in 2010 when Est Capital abandoned a luxury apartment project. COIMA and Eagle Hills, led by Mohamed Alabbar, will restore it into a modern luxury resort, engaging Venice's authorities.

💸 Aareal Bank refinanced Carbonleo for the Four Seasons Hotel Montreal. Aareal, based in Germany, acted as arranger, facility agent, and security agent. Carbonleo, founded by Andrew Lutfy in 2012, develops mixed-use real estate. The 169-room hotel, opened in 2019 in Montreal’s Golden Square Mile, holds a five-key eco-rating. Antoine Bernier from Carbonleo and Bettina Graef-Parker from Aareal praised the partnership's focus on sustainable luxury in urban markets.

📰 June 5, 2025, Josiah Mackenzie presented at the NYU International Hotel Investment Forum in New York. He emphasized that hospitality profits should focus on investments rather than solely on cost-cutting strategies. Mackenzie shared ideas from a panel discussion, suggesting that strategic investments can significantly benefit businesses and the communities they serve. For more insights, listen to the episode and consider applying these concepts in your teams.