Azora has completed the final close of its latest pan-European hospitality fund, Azora European Hotel & Lodging, F.C.R., reaching €815 million in total commitments plus additional co-investment capital, implying a 36% increase over the original €600 million target.
Azora raised the fund’s €750 million hard cap to €815 million.
”The increase of the hard cap has allowed Azora to accommodate new investors, comprising a large European pension fund, two large insurance companies (based in Europe and the U.S. respectively) and two European family offices,” said the company in a press relase.
The fund has a total investment capacity of more than €1.8 billion, of which €730 million has already been committed to investments, through 4 transactions (including the seed portfolio).
These include two flagship hotels in the Algarve region in Portugal for €148 million, through a 20-year sale and management transaction with Minor International (MINT); the acquisition of the Arenas Resort Giverola in Costa Brava (Spain), prior to a €40 million repositioning project; and the luxury 5* Vilalara Thalassa Resort hotel in the Algarve region.
Azora said these new acquisitions bring the fund’s total portfolio to 4,600 keys in tourism-focused hotels, in both sun and beach and urban locations.
The fund invests in European tourism, a segment with a long-term growth trend and amidst a clear post-pandemic recovery scenario. The fund aims to invest both in traditional beach and mountain destinations, as well as in the main European tourist cities..
Concha Osácar, Founding Partner at Azora commented: “This fund is a continuation of our successful strategy in the hotel sector, which began more than ten years ago. Throughout the pandemic we maintained our long-held conviction on the European leisure hotel and resorts market, which has already allowed us to build a significant high-quality portfolio and to position our Fund ahead of competitors, with a strong pipeline of future opportunities. Our continuous focus on the sector has allowed us to become a leading European player in hospitality and has led us to increase our original target and hard cap to accommodate additional investors´ demand. For our Fund, the pandemic has created and will continue to create additional opportunities over and above those originally envisaged.”
