Eurazeo’s Real Estate team has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Aquardens. This transaction represents the first investment of the EZORE fund, which was launched in December 2024 and focuses on operational real estate assets across Europe. This move emphasizes the fund’s strategy and ambition to support businesses anchored in real estate, thereby creating value for the company as a whole. The existing management team of Aquardens is also reinvesting alongside Eurazeo, sharing the goal of fostering the company’s growth.
Aquardens has established itself as Italy’s largest thermal park, offering a wide range of leisure and wellness services, including sauna, spa, massage, beauty, and medical services. Headquartered in Verona, Aquardens was founded in 2008 by experienced professionals with extensive backgrounds in the hospitality and tourism sectors. The group employs more than 100 full-time staff members and is well-situated near major Italian tourist spots such as Lake Garda, Verona, Brescia, Vicenza, and Modena.
This investment marks the inaugural step for the deployment of the EZORE fund. Eurazeo’s Real Estate team, through the EZORE fund, drives value through asset improvement and operational enhancement, leveraging its proven track record in operational real estate while contributing financial, strategic, and human resources. The launch of the EZORE strategy is driven by three key structural trends: first, the penetration of services in traditional asset classes like student accommodation, senior living, self-storage, and data centres; second, the rise of experience-driven consumption in the hospitality and leisure industries, highly relevant to the Aquardens investment; and third, the ongoing demographic shift with an ageing population, which increases the need for care services in private hospitals or nursing homes.
Eurazeo’s Real Estate team capitalizes on its 10 years of experience in these markets and its proven expertise to seize investment opportunities across Western Europe.
Riccardo Abello and Pierre Lariviere, Co-Heads of Real Estate at Eurazeo, stated: “We are very pleased to announce this investment in Aquardens, which, with the expertise of the current management team, has firmly established itself as Italy’s leading thermal park. It marks an ideal first transaction for the EZORE strategy, as Aquardens is already benefiting from the growing trend of experience-driven consumption. This transaction symbolizes our position as a transformational investor with a proven two-pronged value-creation strategy that supports both business growth and asset enhancement. We are excited about the opportunities this market will provide for the EZORE strategy moving forward.”
Flavio Zuliani, CEO of Aquardens, added: “The entire Management Team at Aquardens is thrilled to announce this significant growth opportunity in collaboration with Eurazeo's Real Estate Team through the EZORE fund. This strategic partnership will position the thermal park as a prominent leader in both European and global markets in the coming years, with a continued emphasis on enhancing customer experience and advancing environmental sustainability.”
Image Source - Aquardens.
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