This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
Accor has sold a portfolio of six Sofitel hotels in the United States for $US370 million to a joint venture comprised of GEM Realty Capital, Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Limited Partnership 2005 and Accor.
The six hotels portfolio have a total of 1,931 rooms and located in the major metropolitan markets of Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, San Francisco Bay and Washington D.C.
Accor will remain a 25% shareholder in the joint venture and will continue to manage the hotels under the Sofitel brand name through a 25-year contract.
Accor’s president in North America Georges Le Mener said the transaction is in line with Accor’s asset management strategy in the upper upscale segment, which is to reduce capital intensity and earnings volatility through "sale and management back" transactions.
“This transaction enables Accor to partner with well-known hotel real estate investors providing opportunities to expand under management contracts the Sofitel network in North America.
"And we gain not just investors, but true partners. Whitehall already has investments in many Accor hotels worldwide. Working with GEM is a first for us, but we’re excited by the dynamism and creativity of the team, and their vision for the growth of our joint venture,” he added.
GEM Realty Capital is a real estate investment company located in Chicago, Illinois.
Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Limited Partnership 2005 is a real estate investment fund, sponsored and managed by Goldman Sachs.
Sofitel is one the major players in the international upscale hotel market with nearly 200 properties that bring a unique French "art de vivre" to prime locations around the world.
Accor’s hotels, with the Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, Etap Hotel, Formule 1, Motel 6, Studio 6 and Red Roof Inns, represent more than 4,000 hotels and 470,000 rooms in 92 countries
By Adam Parsons
