January 4, 2021--The founders of the company Paris Inn Group, of the company Maison Albar Hotels, the founding members of the Albar group created in 1923 and Gregory Pourrin have, since the beginning of 2019, initiated a reflection on the creation of a structure of hotel investment whose objective is to hold (i) all or part of the hotel assets that they operate through different entities (buildings, businesses and funds operated under lease management), (ii) the management activity and of the group's hotel operations currently carried out by the company Paris Inn Group and (iii) the Maison Albar Hotels brand.
At the end of this reflection and after two years of work, a new institutional structure was put in place, effective since January 1, 2021 and this set, newly constituted is called " CENTAURUS " which has 5 centers owned 100% reflecting at best the different professions:
a first division dedicated to the hotel management activity which will be provided by the company Paris Inn Group (the “ Management Pole ”) ;
a second pole aimed at bringing together hotel companies wholly or mainly owned by members of the Albar and Falco families (the “ Majority Pole ”) through the company Centaurus and its subsidiary, the company Centaurus Participations Majoritaires ;
a third division, the objective of which is to bring together hotel companies partially owned due to the presence of third-party investors (the “ Minority Pole ”) through the company Centaurus and its subsidiary, the company “ Centaurus Partenariats ” ;
a fourth pole aimed at grouping together hotel companies operating hotel business assets under lease management through the company Centaurus and its subsidiary (the “ Location-Management Division ”) ; and finally
a fifth division dedicated to owning and operating the “ Maison Albar Hotels ” brand (the “ Brand Pole ”).
In this context, under the guidance of their financial advisers, Maya Global Markets, Centaurus and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P. (“ Oaktree ”) came together to discuss the refinancing terms of the Centaurus Group and the desired target structuring. In this context, Oaktree plans to subscribe in the coming weeks (closing to come) to a bond issue of €115,200,000, the bonds of which are, under certain conditions, convertible into preferred shares to be issued by Centaurus.
This investment is one of the largest in France in the hotel sector in 2020 and attests to both the trust between the partners (Oaktree and Centaurus) but also in the hotel industry which has proven over the past 30 years. last years its resilience.
Founded in 2005 in its current form by Céline and Jean-Bernard Falco, the company they manage with their Managing Director, Grégory Pourrin, has been present for four generations in the Parisian market. The company is both manager and investor of a portfolio of 35 4 and 5 star hotels, mainly located in Paris, representing a total of more than 2,000 rooms and more than 1,000 employees. The group achieved an overall volume of activities of €100 million excluding tax at December 31, 2019 for a valuation of assets under management of nearly €1 billion.
At the same time manager, investor and hotel owner, the economic model of the " Pôle Gestion »Is based on a portfolio management activity of high-end hotels, on behalf of third-party hoteliers, institutional investors and for Centaurus itself. The company has developed a new concept of boutique hotels under the Maison Albar Hotels brand. This brand passionately combines the know-how developed over generations by Céline Falco's family, née Albar, and the cultural imprint of a place to bring another vision of the French art of living. The brand has been established in Paris with 4 emblematic establishments: Maison Albar Hotels Le Pont-Neuf, Le Champs Élysées, Le Diamond and Le Vendome, but also in Nîmes, Porto (Portugal) and franchised in Chengdu and Guiyang (China ), that is to say 8 5-star category hotels already in operation, 3 of which promote the French flag abroad.
Maison Albar Hotels offers 5-star establishments from 50 to 100 rooms which benefit from a combination of technologies to offer a unique and tailor-made experience. This clever mix of design, typically French elegance and local cultural heritage is the true signature of the brand. Maison Albar Hotels thus plunges its guests into a universe that is each time unique, by associating with artists, designers, craftsmen and great French families illustrious in the tourism sector. 6 other establishments are currently under development under this new international French luxury brand, in addition to a project in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), projects are being deployed in Nice, Colmar and Chamonix and 2 new projects in China ( Guangzhou and Changsha).
Oaktree is supporting Centaurus in particular within the framework of this ambitious development project in order to deploy the new brand of luxury boutique hotels Maison Albar Hotels more widely internationally, as well as to enable the hotel management company to become a real benchmark. in Europe.
The investment will be released in several installments, depending on cash flow requirements in view of the economic situation and current development projects.
Vincent Catherine and Hugo d'Avout d'Auerstaedt, Managing Directors of Oaktree declare: We have been closely following the development of Paris Inn Group for several years and we are delighted to embark today on a common adventure for which this financing is intended to be only a first step. We have been able to appreciate in recent months, and in a new context, all the professionalism, resilience and agility of the teams. We particularly value the entrepreneurial and family DNA of Paris Inn Group and we are delighted to be able to support Céline and Jean-Bernard Falco as well as Grégory Pourrin in this new stage of the group's development .
Céline and Jean-Bernard Falco as well as Grégory Pourrin, co-founders of Centaurus, comment: After having created the company in 2005, over these 15 years, we have benefited from numerous structured financing from our financial partners such as those from Zencap, Bpifrance or Bank of China. the investment made by Oaktree is one of the most important put in place in France during this pandemic period in a sector considered by many to be devastated. We love the “ contrarian ” spirit of the Oaktree teams, whom we have known for years and with whom we share both the same values and the same confidence in the future, in our sector and in our teams.
"This partnership indeed demonstrates:
- the high quality of our hotels ;
- the ambition of our development projects, of which the Nice one, currently under development, is the cornerstone ;
- the quality of our employees, their skills, those of our partners and our networks ;
- the competence of our teams ;
- our motivation, determination, diligence, rigor and skills which were more than noticed and underlined in this extraordinary year.
"We are delighted to be able to collaborate with such an established and recognized international player, Oaktree, to continue to develop our group in the post-crisis period which will inexorably begin in a few months with the renewed ambition to reach €1 billion in business volume by 2030."
Centaurus: Céline and Jean-Bernard Falco, Grégory Pourrin, Cécile LeMotheux, Isabelle Halin Tassone, Serge Bourron, Elie Seban, Alexandre Guiraud and their teams.
Investors: Oaktree: Vincent Catherine, Hugo d'Avout d'Auerstaedt, Martin Graham, Bastien Roleau, Thibaud Zarazaga
Advisors to Centaurus: Financial: Maya Global Markets (Sofiane Megharbi, Rudy Allouch, Philippe Guerand), legal, notarial, corporate and accountants: Gide (Thomas Urlacher, Laëtitia Lemercier, Bertrand Jouanneau and all their teams), Flusin & Associés (Cécile Miralles and Jean-Michel Estève), Cabinet Richard (Charly Richard, Widiane Mendes and Véronique Pagès), Cabinet Job (Jean-Marie Job and Victor Violet), Sinergys (Stéphane Belin and Didier Hassan), Contribution Commissioner (Accomplys: Jacques Parent) , Studies & valuations (KPMG: Régis Chemouny & Stéphane Botz).
Oaktree Advisors: Legal: White & Case (Saam Golshani, Amaury de Faydeau, Alicia Bali, Paul Loisel), Tax: White & Case (Estelle Philippi), Financial: PwC (Arnaud Thibésart, Arnaud Burillon), Notarial: Monassier and Partners (Laurent Cassignard, Caroline Natal)
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