News & Stories
Berlin. Thanks to the marked improvements in the world economy and favourable conditions on the capital markets, for the last few years German banks have been able to continue on their commercial expansion course and record positive yield trends; almost forgotten is the crisis from 2001/2002. The German financial economy, clustered around the Rhine-Main region and the city of Frankfurt, is strategically one of the world's most important business centres. A MasterCard survey on stock exchange locations placed Frankfurt in 7th position, before Paris, as direct competition on the European continent. All the same, the German banking industry has recently yet again come under the spotlight. Insiders talk of Germany as being "over-banked" and rigid - and the same words were used well before the recent turbulence surrounding the IKB and Sachsen LB. Yet both incidents are good illustrations of the current problem. A background report.
Chicago. For the first time in their history, Hyatt allows foreign investors to step in: Tom Pritzker, Chairman of Global Hyatt Corporation,
announced yesterday that Madrone Capital Partners, a private investment firm affiliated with Wal-Mart Chairman Rob Walton and his family, and entities affiliated with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners have agreed to invest a total of 1 billion USD to acquire equity securities in Global Hyatt Corporation.
Frankfurt/M. The recent furore on the international finance markets was impossible to miss: The real estate crisis in the USA has pulled some European and German banks down with it, much to the surprise of some experts. The consequence: Central banks responded with cash injections of a total of 270 billion Euros to secure the normal functioning of the money markets. According to the European Central Bank, with this, the storms of recent days have blown over. All the same, the questions remain: What happened? What were the causes? And what ramifications will it have for the currently heavily real estate focused developments in the hotel industry? Hotel expert Martina Fidlschuster, Managing Director of Hotour Consulting in Frankfurt, sheds light on a difficult subject, exclusively for hospitalityInside.com.
Augsburg. Hotel real estate moves between the hands of different owners more quickly than ever before. According to Jones Lang LaSalle, the sale of a hotel attracts an average of four potential buyers per property. This year, hotel real estate to the tune of 80 billion Euro will change hands - a sum which will again break the record set the previous year. Does such reselling increase the value of a hotel property? What happens with existing operator contracts? Consultants and asset managers have a whole spectrum of answers up their sleeve.
London/Munich. A fund of the finance service provider Morgan Stanley, London, has bought a 35% stake in Motel One Management Ltd, Munich. "Location development will hopefully accelerate," Dieter Mueller says, joint founder and Board Chairman of Motel One plc, in reference to the strong network the new British partner brings with it. The low budget design hotel chain Motel One has gained enormously in strategic influence through the deal and has ensured its position as a force to be reckoned with in the European budget market. The agreement represents Motel One's second strategic deal in four months. For Morgan Stanley Real Estate though, the deal is the first European investment in this segment.
London. The announcement was made last April, now the deal is closed: Morgan Stanley Real Estate completed the acquisition of eight European Hilton hotels by one of its funds. Two more hotels are to follow.
London. Some weeks ago Park Plaza Hotels announced its intention to float on London's Alternative Investment Market. Insider say the point of time is right. Last night, Boris Ivesha, President and CEO confirmed: "Park Plaza Hotels has gone public!"
Bern. Again Rosebud SA announced a new source for money. The "Schweizerhof" in Bern and the Buergenstock Resort would definitely be renovated declared Rosebud's President Victor Armleder himself in an interview with the Swiss economic magazine "Bilanz". In the last little while, he has left it up to his project leader to make such announcements.
Berlin. The Grand Hotel Heiligendamm Ltd still hasn't recovered from financial difficulty. The refinancing of the Fundus fund 34 is taking its time. But Anno August Jagdfeld, the funds initiator confirmed that negotiations were underway for new financing. A sensitivity analysis explains the steps and figures for the next years.
Rigi Kaltbad. The hotel and wellness project in Rigi Kaltbad in the Swiss canton of Lucerne has come to a halt. As the project costs a few millions more than the budgeted 45 million francs, the planning committee put the project on ice for the time being. Financing was no longer guaranteed. This means a loss of face for the Swiss star architect Mario Botta, to whom wellness competence has been ascribed since the opening of the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa.
