Bratislava, Slovakia-based owner-operator Best Hotel Properties signed a joint-venture agreement with Luxembourg-based CPI Property Group and assumed ownership of 50% of an eight-hotel portfolio in the Czech Republic managed by CPI subsidiary CPI Hotels.
The deal price, which included 50% of the operating entity, CPI Hotels, was approximately €173 million ($189 million), putting a total value on the portfolio of €347 million, according to a news release.
CPI Hotels will retain operations of the eight hotels, which include the 559-room Clarion Congress Hotel Prague, 243-room Comfort Hotel Prague City East and 173-room Mamaison Residence Downtown Prague.
BHP's hotel portfolio includes the 464-room Westminster Curio London, which is operated by Westmont Hospitality. Its operational arm manages four Slovak hotels, including the 120-room Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tatras, located beside Slovak lake Štrbské Pleso; and the 224-room Crowne Plaza Bratislava.
In an email sent to Hotel News Now, a spokesperson for CPI Property Group said this disposal of a 50% stake is in line with CPI's overall corporate strategy of disposals and that it announced in Aug. 2022 it was targeting a disposal pipeline of €2 billion ($2.19 billion) over the next 24 months.
It has disposed of some of what it considered to be non-core hospitality assets, such as resort hotels in Hvar, Croatia, and ski resort in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
The spokesperson added that in its latest transaction, it viewed the eight hotels in the Czech as core to its strategy but "welcome an investment partner in this joint venture with BHP."
CPI Property Group was founded in the Czech Republic in 1991 and is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. According to its website, it has a property portfolio valued at approximately €20 billion, only 5% of which is in the hotel asset class.
Its CEO David Greenbaum said the company “is excited to work with BHP and sees this partnership as an opportunity to share operational knowledge and take our hotel portfolio to the next level.”