(Union Investment acquires first hotel in Barcelona with 20-year lease)
Union Investment Real Estate is continuing to expand in the European hotel investment market. The Hamburg-based real estate fund management company has now acquired the Barceló Raval ( photo) a four-star hotel in Barcelona, for some EUR 37 million. The 186-room hotel is leased to Spanish operator Barceló Hotels and Resorts for 20 years, with an option to extend. Completed in 2008, the property is centrally located close to the main shopping street, Las Ramblas, and will join the portfolio of open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Europa. “Barcelona is one of Europe’s leading holiday and conference destinations, so the local conditions are excellent for our first hotel investment in Spain,” said Dr. Frank Billand, a member of the management team at Union Investment Real Estate GmbH.
In December 2012, Union Investment acquired the first Barceló hotel in Hamburg for Unilmmo: Deutschland. “Barceló is an interesting new partner for further transactions. They are expanding internationally and we would be delighted to continue supporting them as an investor in strategic locations,” added Billand. Barceló is the third largest Spanish hotel operator and one of the largest tourism companies in the country. Established in 1931 in Palma de Mallorca as a family-owned company, Barceló today has 141 hotels in 17 countries in Europe, Latin America and the US.
Union Investment’s broadly diversified hotel portfolio includes 22 different hotel brands and is currently worth EUR 1.7 billion. Over the past three years, Union Investment has invested some EUR 400 million in new hotel properties for its funds, of which around EUR 150 million was committed to the up-and-coming budget and economy sector.
Source: Company