Alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has closed the acquisition of the B&B Hotel Group, which operates a chain of 223 budget hotels across France, Germany and Italy, from European investment firm Eurazeo for an enterprise value of circa EUR480m.
Further financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction closed on 28 September 2010.
Launched in France in 1990, B&B serves business and leisure travellers.
Carlyle intends to expand the company by investing in the continued renovation of current hotels and by accelerating the hotel opening pace across Europe.
This will include further penetration of the core French market, significant expansion in Germany (which currently accounts for only 34 properties in the total portfolio) and growth in Italy, as well expanding the chain into new territories such as Poland, Portugal and The Netherlands.
Franck Falezan, managing director at The Carlyle Group, says: “B&B has high customer satisfaction and has had strong market performances and strong business resilience during the downturn. We are confident in the continued high growth potential of the company in existing and new European markets. In partnership with our experienced real estate team and B&B’s excellent management team, we look forward to helping B&B reach its full potential.”
George Sampeur, chief executive officer of B&B Hotels, adds: “We are exceptionally proud of B&B’s achievements over the past 20 years and believe Carlyle’s institutional support will facilitate our plans for expansion and further enhance the service we provide. Our success underscores the appeal of our concept, and we believe this is why we have a 98 per cent customer satisfaction rate. We look forward to working with Carlyle’s unique combination of the relevant skill sets and specific expertise of individual real estate and leisure teams.”
Equity for this transaction comes from Carlyle Europe Partners III, a EUR5.4bn buyout fund, and Carlyle Europe Real Estate Partners III, a EUR2.2bn real estate fund.
This is the third investment in six months for Carlyle Europe Partners following Gianonni, a manufacturer of stainless steel heat exchangers, and NBTY, a manufacturer of vitamins and nutritional supplements.
