The fund manager Meridia Capital has announced the launch of its new vehicle, Meridia V, along with the purchase of the Gallery hotels in Barcelona and the Hotel Molina Lario, in Malaga, for around 85 million euros. The manager plans to reposition both assets so that they are of a higher four-star category. The management company led by Javier Faus has prevailed in a sales process in which other groups such as Pontegadea – the investment company of Zara’s owner, Amancio Ortega – and Millenium were also bidding, according to Europa Press.
Meridia V thus makes its first significant investment: a portfolio of two first-class hotels in Barcelona and Malaga, which They have a total of 213 rooms. The hotels, specifically the Hotel Gallery in the city center of Barcelona and the Hotel Molina Lario in the heart of Malagapresent “significant growth potential” for the manager.
The fund ensures that it will take advantage of “its deep local network, its specialized knowledge of the Spanish market and its strong asset management capabilities” to identify and execute opportunities in Barcelona and Madrid mainly, as well as in the key provincial cities selected from Spain.
B&B Hotels
Last June, the association of the investment fund with the hotel group B&B Hotels to develop a project of hotel building. The firm anticipated an investment of 200 million euros to get hold of land on the outskirts of the main Spanish cities and build hotels that will be rented to B&B Hotels on a fixed contract basis.
Meridia will develop this strategy together with Lexxa Hotelswhich will assist in the search for opportunities, execution of development work, financing and exit.
The investment fund manager has already made the first investments for this program in Spain, having acquired four floors in Vallecas (Madrid), two in Seville and one in Vilaseca (Tarragona). The four establishments to be developed will have more than 500 rooms in total and are expected to be operational from 2024.
