EasyHotel has bought eight franchised hotels in the Benelux region from real estate private equity fund manager Crossroads Real Estate, for approximately €145 million.
The deal is fully supported by EasyHotel’s majority shareholders, ICAMAP and Ivanhoé Cambridge. In December the pair invested €50 million to support the execution of its future growth strategy.
The hotels acquired have a total of 793 rooms, with three hotels in Amsterdam, two in The Hague, one in Rotterdam, one in Maastricht, and one in Brussels.
Alongside the aforementioned deal, EasyHotel is adding two further hotels to its owned/leased portfolio in Dublin in December 2022 and Paris in early 2023.
The move demonstrates the company’s commitment to developing its presence in Europe through growth and acquisition. EasyHotel currently has a total of 42 owned/leased and franchised hotels, which it aims to expand to 51 hotels in 13 countries over the next 18 months, and to reach a total of 100 owned and franchised hotels internationally by 2026.
Whilst the acquisition will strengthen the group’s owned portfolio, EasyHotel remains committed to its franchised network, which is instrumental to its growth strategy, with a target of 12,000 franchised rooms by 2027. The next franchise hotel opening in the Group’s pipeline will be Madrid, in the central Atocha area, with a 230-bedroom hotel due to open in late 2022.
Karim Malak was named as CEO as EasyHotel in September 2021, following the death of François Bacchetta.
What they said
Karim Malak, CEO of EasyHotel, said: “This strategic acquisition is an important milestone in our plan to increase our presence in continental Europe from a strong UK base. Consumers place increasing importance on value, hence increasing demand for affordable hotels across Europe and the UK, a trend which we expect to continue given current inflation. We are seeing strong trading and market share gain across both our UK portfolio and the Benelux hotels, with figures exceeding 2019 levels and outperforming the market.”
David Gillerman, CEO of Crossroads Real Estate said: “Following a longstanding franchise agreement with EasyHotel, Crossroads is delighted with the success and the growth across this portfolio of eight very well-situated hotels, especially its performance since the end of the pandemic.”