It's early in 2024, but this might be the year more hotel companies go public.
Following the Feb. 12 initial public offering of India’s Park Hotels and the news that fellow Indian hotel firm Juniper Hotels will finalize its IPO on Feb. 23, Amsterdam-based Sircle Hospitality Group has announced it will soon be publicly listed.
Sircle will launch its IPO in the second quarter of this year, according to a news release issued by its parent company, conglomerate SMG Holding. Sircle’s hotel-brand portfolio, which numbers 37 hotels and 4,000 rooms, all in Europe, includes Sir Hotels and Max Brown Hotels, as well as a private members club brand, The Cover. The company also operates restaurants.
Most of Sircle's hotels are in The Netherlands, Germany and Austria. Its plan is to expand its portfolio across Europe and to debut in additional Mediterranean countries, with a target of 100 hotels, the release said.
Sircle will be listed following a merger with SMG Holding subsidiary SMG European Recovery. SMG European Recovery went public in June 2020. Its goal is “to invest within 15 months in a company in the real estate sector with a focus on the sub-sectors hospitality, leisure or travel industry in an [European Union] member state or other specified country,” according to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, where Sircle will also be made public. Once the merger is done, Sircle will be publicly listed as Sircle SE.
SMG Holdings stated Sircle’s hotel portfolio has an “expected market capitalization of around €250 million ($269 million) with a total value of the hotel real estate portfolio of over €400 million.”
Stefan Petrikovics, SMG Holding’s CEO, founded the firm in 2020 and will become the new entity’s deputy chairman. Between 2013 and 2019, he was a board member of Germany’s A&O Hotels & Hostels.
“Sircle is ideally positioned in the fast-growing European tourism and lifestyle hospitality sector. With the expansion of its hotel portfolio and its focus on high-quality lifestyle concepts, Sircle is pursuing a clear strategy. … With our prepared structures for a listing, we are therefore the ideal partner to grow successfully together in the long term. We provide capital and offer secure framework conditions for access to the capital market,” Petrikovics said.
SMG Holdings has interests in many industries beyond hospitality, including technology. One of its subsidiaries, technology firm BigRep, was recently listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.