Venetian deal closes: Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s US$6.4 billion sale of the Venetian and Palazzo hotels, as well as The Venetian Expo in Las Vegas closed on Thursday. With 7,000 all-suite rooms, 225,000 square feet of gaming space and 2.3 million square feet of meeting space, Apollo Global Management is paying US$1.05 billion in cash and US$1.2 billion in seller financing for the property’s cash flow and operations, while New York-based Vici, a real estate investment trust affiliated with Caesars Entertainment, is paying US$4 billion for the land. The names and management team of the properties reportedly will not be changed. Apollo has partnered with Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. to continue the development of the US$1.9 billion, 17,500-seat MSG Sphere at The Venetian Expo, which will connect to The Venetian through a pedestrian bridge. Las Vegas Sands will now concentrate on its Asia operations.
UK’s serviced apartment sector set for full recovery: The serviced apartment sector in the U.K. is likely to recover fully in the next eight months as confidence in the sector continues to improve, revealed the latest Association of Serviced Apartment Providers/Savills sentiment survey conducted earlier this month. Around 84.6% of the respondents were ‘slightly or significantly more optimistic’ about their business prospects, up from 81% in June 2021. Around 80.8% of respondents felt occupancy will recover fully by the end of the year, with 57.7% reporting occupancy at pre-COVID levels. ESG credentials have been attracting customers with 42.3% of respondents stating that ESG credentials of their businesses were ‘very’ to ‘extremely’ important to drive consumer demand. Staffing costs (65.4%), availability (57.7%), risk of international travel restrictions (61.5%) and energy costs (53.8%) were cited as a ‘slight’ or ‘significant’ challenge that the sector is set to face in the next three years.
Hyatt to sell San Antonio hotel: Hyatt Hotels Corp. expects to sell the beleaguered 1,000-key Grand Hyatt on the Riverwalk hotel in San Antonio, Texas, to Community Finance Corp., a Tucson, Arizona-based non-profit organization to settle its debt to the city. The Public Finance Authority of Wisconsin will be issuing US$450 million in bonds to finance the deal. The bonds will be paid back over the next 40 years, following which San Antonio will become the hotel’s new owner. Community Finance will lease the land, while Hyatt will continue to operate the property for 30 years. In 2005, San Antonio issued US$208.1 million in bonds to Hyatt to build the hotel and leased the land to the hotel operator. Hyatt, which is expected to make debt payments on the full amount, still owes around US$168.4 million in bond debt. San Antonio had fronted US$10.4 million to Hyatt to cover its shortfalls. Proceeds from the bond sales will be used to pay the US$168.4 million in debt, US$10.4 million fronted by the city and US$4.9 million in unpaid rent.
Interval, Grupe’s affiliation agreement: Interval International and Grupe SAB. De C.V., the holding company for Grupo El Cid Vacations Club, have entered into an affiliation agreement. The multi-site agreement includes five resorts — situated in Mazatlán and Puerto Morelos-Riviera Maya in Mexico — which are part of El Cid Vacations Club and any future resorts developed or purchased during the agreement’s term.