Mergers & Acquisitions

🏨 European hotel deal volumes hit $24.3 billion in 2024, up 37% from the previous year, with the U.K. leading at $8.5 billion in transactions. The second half of 2024 saw $11.3 billion in deals, and the U.K., Spain, and France comprised 59% of the total at $14.3 billion. The U.K. saw a 197% increase in transaction volume from 2023, with significant growth also seen in Greece (+294%), Norway (+248%), and Ireland (+218%). London was the top city with $4.4 billion in deals. Private capital made up 45% of transactions, a 45% increase from the previous year, while institutional investments represented 39%, and public finance grew 352% to 13%. Luxury and upper-upscale properties accounted for 42% of the total volume.

🏨 Hyatt Hotels Corporation targets a 30% growth in the UK by 2026, starting with Hyatt Place Leeds (217 rooms) and Hyatt House Leeds (88 rooms) as of March 2025. More than 1,000 rooms will be added, including Hyatt Place London Paddington (87 rooms) and Hyatt Regency London Olympia (over 200 rooms), creating approximately 250 jobs. The strategy follows the 2023 acquisition of Mr & Mrs Smith, boosting World of Hyatt membership to 54 million by 2024, with a 5% MICE inquiries increase in Q4 2024. Future expansions focus on Oxford, Cambridge, Liverpool, Glasgow, Cardiff, and Belfast.

🏨 RREAF Holdings and Philip McNeill, Sr. established MxR Hospitality focusing on extended-stay hotels nationwide. Phillip McNeill, Sr., opened the second Hampton Inn in 1984 and was once the largest Hampton franchise owner. With RREAF's team having over 150 years of real estate experience, they seek to improve extended-stay hotel management across the industry. Equity Inns, once led by McNeill, sold to Goldman Sachs for $2.2 billion in 2007, with 138 hotels in its portfolio.

🏥 IHG Hotels & Resorts is set to open Bristol Berlin, Vignette Collection in 2025 in Berlin, Germany, expanding its luxury and lifestyle segment. The hotel, located on Kurfürstendamm since 1952, will feature 303 guest rooms, an all-day dining brasserie, a bar, and a spa with a swimming pool. It will offer 1,500 square meters of event space. The Vignette Collection was launched by IHG in 2021. Bristol Berlin is the second Vignette property in Germany, following a recent signing in Reit im Winkl. IHG currently manages 147 hotels in Germany, with 75 in development.

🏨 Pandox AB to acquire Pullman Cologne Hotel for €66 million, with closing set for Q2 2025. This 275-room property in Cologne, Germany, is expected to offer growth through renovations and repositioning. The anticipated initial yield is around 6.5%. The seller is Art-Invest Real Estate on behalf of an institutional hotel fund. The hotel will operate under AccorInvest post-acquisition. Pandox already owns three hotels in Cologne and recently acquired Radisson Blu Tromsø Hotel in Norway and three Residence Inn by Marriott in London.

🏦 Blackstone announced the final close of their BREDS V real estate debt fund on Friday, securing $8 billion in capital commitments. This matches the record for such investment vehicles and signals a property-market rebound, particularly in the hotel sector. The fund targets vulnerable hotel assets, betting on a commercial real estate upswing. Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies is capitalizing on current market conditions by buying underperforming loans and filling financing gaps where banks are reluctant to refinance. Despite pandemic impacts and rising interest rates since 2022 affecting property values, large capital availability continues to drive investments.

👨🏥 Peregrine Hospitality in Denver, Colorado expanded its management portfolio with 26 select-service properties. Five assets were transferred in February, including Hilton Garden Inn in Texas with 133 keys, a 192-key dual-branded hotel in Massachusetts, a 100-key property in Florida, and a 114-key Marriott property in California. Peregrine's portfolio spans 17 states, demonstrating its multi-market service consistency. Additional properties include 21 select-service hotels like Element Atlanta Buckhead and Tru by Hilton Atlanta Galleria Ballpark.

🏨 Dalata Hotel Group, founded in 2007, operates 56 hotels in the UK and Ireland, with expansion into Europe. The company, traded on Euronext Dublin and the London Stock Exchange, with 30 owned properties valued at €1.7 billion, reported €652 million in revenue for 2024 and €234.5 million in adjusted EBITDA. Despite this, its share price of around €5.50 values the group at €1.2 billion, which the board believes is undervalued. Options such as a sale, merger, or private equity investment are being considered, advised by Rothschild & Co. Dalata seeks to reach 21,000 rooms by 2030, an 80% expansion, with 1,600 rooms already in development. In 2024, four new Maldron hotels opened, and Dublin's RevPAR for 2025 is expected to be 2.5% higher than Q1 2024.

🏠 JLL Capital Markets secured $15.9 million financing for Woodland Flats, a 120-unit hotel-to-multifamily project in Gresham, Oregon, arranged for PH Development LLC. The two-year bridge loan is through AGP Capital. The project, 25 minutes from downtown Portland, requires $6.1 million in capital improvements and is expected to complete in 10 months. Woodland Flats features 6,400 square feet of retail space and is PH Development's second such conversion.