One Hotels & Resorts GmbH, as the majority shareholder of the German Motel One Group under the leadership of founder Dieter Müller, has acquired the 35 percent stake from the financial investor Proprium Capital Partners. The closing took place on 2 April 2024 and the purchase price of EUR 1.25 billion implies an enterprise value of EUR 4.1 billion.
Proprium was a minority shareholder in Motel One GmbH and acquired its stake in 2007 as part of a capital increase. Parallel to the buyback, the properties will be spun off from the operating business with effect from 1 January 2024, for which the IPO is planned in the medium term. Dieter Müller, also Chairman of the Motel One Group: "The buyback and the spin-off of the properties are important steps for Motel One in preparation for the planned IPO in the medium term".
The Munich hotel chain is now once again solely owned by the group of investors around company founder Dieter Müller. Philipp Westermann, Partner & Head of Europe at Proprium Capital Partners: "We are proud to have accompanied a German family business on its journey for more than 15 years. Today, the company operates globally with enormous growth potential."
Proprium, the former subsidiary of the investment bank Morgan Stanley that specialises in real estate financing, invested 65 million euros in Motel One in 2007 as part of a capital increase, Handelsblatt recalled today. Proprium had thus increased its investment including dividends more than twenty-fold, the Financial Times reported in parallel.
The current figures
The Motel One Group closed the 2023 financial year with record revenue of EUR 852 million (previous year: EUR 639 million), an increase of around 33% on the previous year. EBITDA rose by 64% to 281 (previous year: 171) million euros. Earnings before taxes (EBT) almost doubled in 2022, rising to EUR 226 million (previous year: EUR 116 million). The Motel One Group thus closed the most successful financial year in the company's history.
Growth to 117 hotels secured
The location network grew by six more hotels in 2023 to 94 hotels with 26,470 rooms in operation. The first The Cloud One Hotel in Germany was opened in the heart of Hamburg's historic city centre in the fourth quarter. In total, the contractually secured portfolio comprised 117 hotels with 32,177 rooms at the end of the year. Of these, 23 (previous year: 28) hotels with 5,707 (previous year: 7,040) rooms are currently under development. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the Motel One Group secured a total of four locations in attractive markets: two projects in Brussels and one each in Nice and Berlin.
For 2024, the Motel One Group expects further increases in revenue. It plans to open seven new hotels with around 1,800 rooms in Germany and Europe, including two hotels under the new brand The Cloud One Hotels in Prague and Düsseldorf. The Motel One Group currently operates 94 hotels with 26,470 rooms in 13 countries (as of December 2023). / map
