Chinese-Belgian consortium enters German hotel market

In a significant move, a consortium led by A Capital, a private equity firm backed by Chinese and Belgian sovereign funds CIC and SFPI, has bought a portfolio of 10 hotels in Germany from DHM group for an undisclosed amount.

A Capital, which is based in Beijing and Brussels, has joined forces with Starwood's French hotel unit Louvre Hotels to make its first market entry into Germany with the purchase of the assets, which offer a total of 1,246 rooms and are operated under the Balladins brand.

The package consists of five three-star and five four-star hotels in gateway cities of western Germany (Frankfurt, Dortmund, Bremen, Mannheim, Bad Bramstadt, Braunschweig, Offenburg, Peine, Sindelfingen and Troisdorf).

A Capital said it plans to renovate the assets and rebrand them under the Tulip Inn and Golden Tulip brands. They will be operated by Louvre Hotels Group, which is currently the fourth-largest hotel group in the EU, and which currently operates seven German hotels. The group operates 1,200 hotels in 47 countries, under brand names such as Royal Tulip (recently resuscitated out of insolvency), Campanile, Kyriad, and Premiere Classe.

A Capital said it plans to build up a portfolio of 50 hotels in German over the next four to five years. Head of business development at Louvre Hotels, Matthieu Evrard, said that the partnership with A Capital should lead to the group developing critical mass in Germany and create a platform for future investment.