Mohari Hospitality and Omnam Investment Group acquired Venice’s 191-room Bauer Hotel, which is under renovation to reopen as the Rosewood Hotel Bauer next year.
Mohari did not disclose a transaction price in a news release announcing the deal. However, Italian business website Milano Finanza reports the price tag is €300 million ($317 million), or €1.57 million per room. The seller is New York City-based King Street Capital, Milano Finanza reported. King Street Capital bought the hotel in April from Austrian real estate firm Signa, according to CoStar data.
The Bauer Hotel sits on the Grand Canal, with canal-side tables on its al fresco patio. Nicosia, Cyprus-based Mohari said renovation work will continue under its ownership. No exact room count of the finished renovation has been shared.
Earlier this year, Signa via its division Signa Prime Collection made an agreement to sell the hotel and a handful of Austrian properties — including the Park Hyatt Venice — to Germany’s Schöller Group, according to the Italian Ministry of Tourism.
Hotel News Now wrote at that time that the transaction was being done “in hopes of dealing with some of [Signa’s] billions in debt. …No price was disclosed in the deal.” Signa, now in the process of insolvency, bought the Bauer in 2020.
Thomas Daily, CoStar Group's German real estate industry news publication, said in March that the deal had fallen apart over the acquisition price.
“Of the 37 interested parties so far for the properties bundled in Signa Prime Asset, the Schöller Group made the best offer … [but] a meeting of creditors did not approve the sale,” Thomas Daily reported.
In additional notes HNN has translated from German using Google Translate, the publication said, “the sales process for the properties bundled in Signa Prime Asset, including … the Goldenes Quartier in Vienna, as well as the Innsbruck department store Tyrol, was started in February” and that “Schöller Group last summer … helped Signa Prime Selection get out of a liquidity crisis with a loan of €200 million and in return received liens on the financing company Signa Prime Capital Invest GmbH.”
When the deal with Schöller Group fell through, King Street Capital stepped in to acquire the Bauer Hotel in April of this year.
In 2022, King Street Capital and Starwood Capital Group partnered on a €330 million bond issuance to refinance Venice's Hotel Danieli, which is owned by Italy’s Statuto Group and due to reopen in 2025 as a Four Seasons hotel.
Commenting on Mohari's acquisition of Hotel Bauer, Mark Scheinberg, founder and principal of Mohari, said it is the firm's intention to "establish a portfolio of unparalleled luxury hospitality destinations defined by iconic locations, heritage value and exceptional guest experiences. The legendary Bauer Hotel fits perfectly within our vision.”
Mohari has partnered with Omnam before, notably in ownership of the 75-room Baccarat Villa Camerata, near Florence, Italy, which is due to open next year. Both companies are also partners on another Italian property, the 150-room Four Seasons Costa Merlata in the province of Puglia, due to open in 2026.
Other hotels luxury Mohari owns include the 200-room Four Seasons Madrid; 152-room Andaz Resort & Residences Peninsula Papagayo, Costa Rica; 64-room Six Senses Grand Bahama, due to open in 2026; and 205-room Waldorf Astoria Miami, also due to open in 2026.
Some of Mohari's portfolio is owned in joint venture with such companies as Toronto-based private equity firm Greybrook Real Estate Partners and New York City-based developer PMG.