As its main conclusions, the JLL report points out that through the year there were more than 130 transactions of assets in Spain and that the typical investor profile has changed considerably, there being a greater participation by international investors than national investors. On the other hand, although transactions on the part of individual investors dominated throughout most of the year, after the acquisition of the hotel portfolio of Merlin Properties by Foncière des Régions, two days before the end of the year, the final picture changed (66% individual deals compared to 34% portfolios). Additionally, urban assets, principally in Madrid and Barcelona, led the way in terms of urban assets, ahead of holiday destinations.
In this sense, Madrid has received 28% of total investment, with a volume of 597 million, followed by Barcelona with 344 million and 16% of the total. Following behind are destinations such as Las Palmas, Fuerteventura (7.4%), Mallorca (6.1%), Málaga (7.4%) and Valencia (7%).
The report from JLL Hotels & Hospitality predicts that this dynamism will continue in the 2017 market and that interest from international investors will continue to increase, thus it is hoped that investment totals will be maintained similar to 2016, that is to say lower than 2015.
Principal transactions
The main transactions leading the market in 2016 are without doubt the most important of the year. On the one hand, the sale of the hotel Villa Magna in Madrid, which Dogus Group was acquired from Sodim SGPS for 180 million euros. This deal, with JLL Hotels & Hospitality as consultants, is the top deal in terms of price per room (1.2 million euros) in the history of the Spanish hotel market. On the other hand, from among portfolio transactions, without doubt the acquisition of the Merlin Properties hotels portfolio by Foncière des Régions for 535 million euros is spotlighted.
Similarly, as regards individual asset transactions, next to the Villa Magna deal, the sale by AXA Investment Managers to Shaftesbury of the Hotel Pullman Barcelona Skipper, for 93 million euros, or the purchase of the Celenque building by the KKH Capital Group and Perella Weinberg RE for 80 million, for a future hotel, all stand out.