BERLIN — Lily Wecker, vice president of investments at Zetland Capital, said although her firm doesn't exclusively invest in hotels, it sees opportunities and plans to continue to invest in the sector.
Speaking exclusively to Hotel News Now at the International Hotel Investment Forum, Wecker said Zetland recognized recent industry doldrums had led to properties offered for sale that would not traditionally have been on the market.
“A lot of fundamentally sound assets came to market that would not have historically been available for sale," Wecker said. "We continue to believe in resort destinations in city-center locations with mostly balanced leisure and business demand, and we will continue to invest in business plans where we reposition assets for better local product market fit and backing strong brands and management teams."
That said, distressed assets have not surfaced as some predicted when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. Wecker said competition to place capital is fierce, but Zetland has been able to secure high-quality, prime hotel assets at a discount, employing local contacts and mostly from generational family owners.
“We focus on providing very flexible capital solutions, meaning in addition to acquiring assets in direct sell, we also provide minority investment … and joint ventures with local hotel groups,” she said.
Wecker added those opportunities have become less frequent as capital placement heats up.
“We do see a strong pipeline in 2022, but again in a selective area of hospitality,” she said.
She said Zetland creates business plans around value creation, rebranding, repositioning and value-creative capital expenditure, and assets ticking those boxes generally come to market because of a lack of cash flow.
Zetland is currently putting together its second fund, which will result in it managing more than 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) in assets, Wecker said.
For more of Wecker’s insights and comments, watch the video above.