Starwood Capital Group, a leading private investment firm, announced today that its Groupe Du Louvre (GDL) affiliate has completed the sale of four iconic luxury hotels in France, continuing the successful resolution of Starwood’s 2005 Societe Du Louvre acquisition which continue to generate strong returns for Starwood’s investors. The assets were sold to Constellation Hotels Holdings Ltd and will be managed by Hyatt Hotels Corporation going forward. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The four properties - Concorde Lafayette, Hotel du Louvre,
Martinez and Palais de la Mediterranee - were all acquired as part of the 2005 $3.2 billion acquisition of Societe Du Louvre, a conglomerate which included Europe’s second-largest hotel network now called Louvre Hotels Group, and Groupe Taittinger, owner of champagne producer Taittinger CCVC, among other holdings. “Completing the sale of a majority of our luxury hotel assets marks an important milestone in the ongoing monetization of the GDL portfolio,” said Barry Sternlicht, Chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group. “We have sold more than $3 billion in assets since closing, and will continue to maximize the value of our remaining assets to generate attractive returns for our investor partners. In the coming years, we expect to continue our expansion and renovation of our Louvre Hotels Group portfolio and to support the growth of Baccarat into new geographies, with a focus on Asia, expanding its presence in the hotel and residential arena.”
The sale of these four hotels plus prior divestitures of Taittinger CCVC, Annick Goutal and several other hotel properties have generated approximately $3 billion in total proceeds. The company retains ownership of Louvre Hotels Group, which has grown from 805 hotels at acquisition to north of 1,090 hotels today under its four brands; Premiere Classe, Campanile, Kyriad and Golden Tulip. Louvre Hotels Group is the eighth largest hotel network in the world and operates in 39 countries.