News & Stories

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.

Berlin. Gesellschaft fuer Beteiligungen and Immobilien-Projektentwicklungen mbh in Berlin sold two profitable hotel investments to Lloyd Fonds AG in Hamburg.

Vienna. Not one, but two commissions of inquiry are presently busy at work in Austria with Austria's largest state bank, the Carinthian Hypo Group Alpe Adria. The subsidiary Carinthia Holding Investment plc, created for regional development projects, acquired the famous Velden Palace from Gunther Sachs four years ago at a price tag of 22 million Euros. Now, Austria's houses of parliament have turned their attention to the bank.

Berlin. The hospitality real estate industry is conquering the capital market. This results in high demands with regard to added value to investments from a hotel's and a real estate's point of view. At the "Hotel Dialogue Asset Hotel Real Estate - A complex management composition" staged by Bernd Heuer Dialog GmbH in Berlin, the requirements of this development were highlighted.

Berlin. In Great Britain, a country which in least in terms of financial innovation is more than a short head in front of Germany, busy work on a hotel-REIT is underway. This particular REIT consists entirely of hotel real estate. The Royal Bank of Scotland together with the real estate giant Richard Balfour-Lynne now intends to bring the biggest part of its hotel property under the name Vector to the stock exchange and do more than just quickly convert the properties into cash.