AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets has completed the sale of the Pullman Skipper Hotel in Barcelona to an unnamed Luxembourg investment fund for a price believed to be around £75 million. CBRE Hotels advised AXA on the sale.
Jorge Ruiz, director of CBRE Hotels in Spain, said that the sale demonstrated the appeal of Barcelona’s hotel sector for international investors, thanks to strong travel demand. Last year, the volume of hotel investment in Spain increased by 95 percent over 2014.
AXA purchased the hotel in 2009, on behalf of one of its managed funds. The company, which manages more €2 billion in hotel assets on behalf of its clients, repositioned the Pullman Skipper Hotel over the past seven years. The agreement made by AXA IM - Real Assets in partnership with Accor Hotels for operation, is part of the company’s investment strategy for its wider €3-billion alternatives platform.
“On acquiring this asset we had a clear value-creation strategy in place and it is with great satisfaction to now see this executed," said Anne Kavanagh, global head of asset management and transactions at AXA IM – Real Assets.