Avignon Capital, the European property investment firm, has acquired two hotels in the German cities of Berlin and Frankfurt for €48.5m; both hotels are let to Meininger, the European hotel chain.
The acquisition was completed off-market and marks Avignon Capital’s first entry into the hotel market, as the firm looks to diversify its growing European portfolio.
The Berlin and Frankfurt Meininger hotels are both strategically-located next to major transportation hubs and were built in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
The 296-room Berlin Meininger comprises 7,487m² (80,589 ft²) and is situated directly on Washingtonplatz, near Berlin’s main railway station in the heart of the Europacity district. Meanwhile, the 4,720 m² (50,806 ft²) Frankfurt Meininger contains 168 rooms and is located in Frankfurt’s Gateway Gardens, a global business hub of Europe in the direct vicinity of Frankfurt Airport.
Meininger is a hotel chain formed in 1999 in Berlin; it has 16 hotels across Europe’s key tourist and business cities, with plans to double this number over the next two years.
Eric Mounier, CEO at Avignon Capital said “The booming German hotel industry presented us with an opportunity to diversify our portfolio whilst sticking to our philosophy of investing in attractive locations with strong growth fundamentals.
The hotels’ exceptional proximity to Berlin and Frankfurt’s prime transportation hubs will be key to the future value and growth of this investment; combined with the stable cash flow from the long term leases and good covenant strength of the properties, we are delighted with this acquisition. Q1 2017 has been a great period for Avignon Capital and its investors and we look forward to taking this momentum into the rest of the year.”
This acquisition follows Avignon Capital’s sale of its Copenhagen prime retail portfolio for €119m in January 2017, which provided investors with a 135% return on equity, as well as the sale of an office building in Oslo for €61m, producing an 87% return on equity.
