An affiliate of Värde Partners, the US global alternative investment firm, has provided a €225 million loan to refinance Banco Santander’s investment in a portfolio of luxury hotels owned by a joint venture between Santander and Meliá Hotels International.
The portfolio comprises three assets in Spain and the UK, which are operated by Meliá Hotels International: Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora resort in Tenerife; Meliá Cala Galdana resort in Menorca; and ME London hotel in London.
The 157-room London hotel is located on The Strand near Covent Garden in a 330,000-square-foot building.
Banco Santander and its investment vehicle Moon GC&P Investments bought a 38.2% stake in the share capital of a subsidiary of the Melia Group that owned the three hotels for €300 million last year.
“This transaction underscores Värde’s conviction in the continued recovery of prime hospitality assets in established tourism destinations,” said Vishal Kumar, a managing director in a statement.
“We are pleased to be a trustworthy partner for Meliá and Värde,” said Antonio García Méndez, global head of capital finance at Santander CIB. “With this transaction Santander CIB positions itself as a key long term partner to its corporate clients while offers attractive financing opportunities to its global investors network, offering high value-added solutions via equity and debt formats.”