Madrid-based European private equity real estate manager Azora has acquired Bluserena SPA, the second largest resort operator in Italy, from the Maresca family. The acquisition has been completed on behalf of Azora’s latest €1.8 billion pan-European hospitality fund, Azora European Hotel & Lodging, F.C.R., which becomes more than 55% deployed with the closing of this deal. The acquisition price has not been disclosed, but Azora leadership termed it “a sizable deal.”
Bluserena currently operates 13 all-inclusive hotels with a total of 4,200 keys across Italy, including eight owned hotels representing 3,000 keys. The hotels, 11 in the 4-star category and two 5-stars, are spread across the main Italian tourist coastal destinations including Sardinia, Sicily, Apulia, Abruzzo, Piedmont and Calabria.
The transaction also includes the acquisition of the Bluserena operating platform, which will continue to be located in Pescara (Abruzzo), Italy. The transaction is the largest executed in the Italian hotel market in 2021, consolidating the Azora European Hotel & Lodging, F.C.R. as a market leader in Italy.
Azora is planning to spend €30 million on the properties as well as grow the company in Italy through new hotel acquisitions, leases and management contracts.
While Azora would not disclose specific targets and said it could potentially consider selected developments, it believes the majority of the growth is likely to happen through acquisitions, as well as through taking on additional hotels under operation, lease or management agreements (without necessarily having to own them). Azora leadership added that the company already has the capabilities to grow and manage more assets in the Italian market.
Azora said it is committed to a three-year investment period for its current fund and is well on track to meet that. Leadership told HOTELS on Tuesday that given the strength of Azora’s current pipeline, they believe it may actually reach full deployment ahead of the three-year mark, possibly in the next 12-18 months.
Azora leadership also told HOTELS that it knew the Maresca familia back in 2018. Since then, there were several conversations about a potential transaction structured in different ways. In September 2020, the parties reached an initial agreement and over the past months have been ironing out the details of what they call a very large and complex transaction.
“This transaction reconfirms Azora’s conviction in the long terms prospects for the European leisure market and our belief that there is also significant pent-up demand for leisure travel due to COVID, which will lead to a strong recovery in the market as vaccination programs continue to progress across Europe,” said Concha Osácar, co-founding partner of Azora.
Azora has raised capital in excess of €5 billion since its inception in 2003 and currently manages an asset portfolio of €4 billion. It currently manages investments in Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, among other countries, and has entered the United States market.
Earlier this year in July, Azora expanded its hotel portfolio into Portugal by acquiring the 383-room Tivoli Marina Vilamoura resort and the 248-room Tivoli Carvoeiro resort in Portugal’s Algarve region through a sale and manage back transaction for €148 million (US$174 million), including a variable price, with Bangkok’s Minor International.
CBRE, as exclusive financial advisor, and Chiomenti, as legal counsel, have advised Carlo Maresca SPA. BonelliErede has advised Azora as legal counsel.