Meliá has created a new subsidiary to group hotel assets and involve a partner in the project. The operation, reported this Monday to the CNMV, consists of the sale to Santander bank of 38% of the new company, owner of establishments in London, Tenerife and Menorca.
The bank has agreed to purchase the stake for 300 million euros through the Moon GC investment vehicle
The new subsidiary will own the Me London hotels in London; Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora, in Tenerife, and Meliá Cala Galdana, in Menorca. They are, according to Meliá, “three unique and renowned establishments” with “extraordinary locations and in an optimal state of conservation and enhancement.”
Santander will not participate in the management of the hotels, which will be operated by companies of Meliá itself. The hotel group will strengthen its financial situation with this move. Among its objectives is “maintaining the strength of its balance sheet.”
Among hotel companies, real estate developers and energy groups, the spin-off of part of the business into a new subsidiary and the sale of a minority stake to a partner has become a trend in recent years. Not only institutional investors, but also large fortunes or investment funds have taken advantage of this trend.
It is not so common for Santander to decide to invest in a listed company. He has measured his movements, which are concentrated in his minority stakes in the listed companies Merlin, Metrovacesa, GAM and Prisa.