CitizenM Hotels, KRC Capital, APG and GIC (the sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Singapore) have signed an agreement for GIC to acquire a 25-percent stake in CitizenM, valuing the company at €2 billion.
CitizenM hotels has been capitalized by two shareholders–KRC Capital (the investment vehicle of entrepreneur Rattan Chadha) and APG (the largest Dutch pension investor on behalf of its pension fund clients). GIC will become CitizenM’s third investor. Both KRC and APG will continue to support the growth of the company by committing fresh capital.
The three investors have committed a further €750 million of equity for future expansion.
Rattan Chadha, founder/executive chairman of CitizenM, said, "With our bold expansion plans for the coming years, we are thrilled to have the financial support of investors who trust our vision and are instrumental in securing our future success.”
CitizenM has been expanding its global portfolio across gateway cities in Europe, North America and Asia in the 11 years since it first opened at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. The growth of the company is expected to further accelerate through the delivery of its secured development pipeline representing an additional investment in excess of €1.5 billion.
"CitizenM represents an attractive value proposition of affordable luxury in urban markets," said Lee Kok Sun, chief investment officer of GIC Real Estate. "As a long-term global investor, we believe this is a good addition to our overall portfolio of quality assets and we look forward to partnering with the citizenM management team to further add value to CitizenM as they expand globally."
Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc acted as sole financial advisor and Stibbe N.V. acted as legal adviser to CitizenM and its shareholders in connection with the transaction. HSBC Bank Plc acted as general corporate lending advisor in the transaction, which is subject to merger control clearance.