- Global fund provides opportunity to institutional investors to invest into leisure hotels with strong brands such as Robinson and TUI Blue
- One of the largest German pension funds has made capital commitment for a significant share of the fund’s planned equity volume, TUI participates with 10% of the equity volume
- Focus on growth outside Europe - first fund to invest predominantly into new hotels
- Separation of returns from real estate investment, hotel operations and investment advisory services
The TUI Group intends to further expand its successful and profitable hotel division. To this end, the Group is launching a global hotel fund with a gross target volume of 500 million euros in cooperation with the Luxembourg unit of the renowned investment company HANSAINVEST as AIFM (Alternative Investment Fund Manager). The fund is primarily designated for institutional investors with a long- term investment horizon. One of Germany's largest pension funds has already made a capital commitment for a significant share of the fund’s planned equity volume. TUI itself will also hold a 10 per cent stake in the fund's equity. The focus of this first fund is on growth in the hotel segment outside Europe. In the future, further funds focusing on investments in Europe could follow.
The fund is designed for growth and plans to predominantly invest into new hotel properties which will be acquired or newly developed and which are currently not part of the TUI Group. Selectively, hotels from TUI Group's current portfolio may also be acquired by the fund. The properties will mainly be operated under TUI Group's international hotel brands (such as Robinson or TUI Blue) and managed operationally by TUI.
The fund investors will earn a return on their hotel investments. TUI will receive ongoing remuneration on the one hand for operating the hotels and on the other hand for providing investment advice to the fund. The TUI Group's asset-right strategy will thus be continued and earnings growth in the hotel business will be created independently of investments in real estate.
"Following the successful relaunch of our operating business, we are now returning to growth. We want to further expand our position as the leading international leisure hotel company. As TUI, we focus on what is crucial for our guests: strong brands, outstanding hotel quality and service. Our core competence is the development and operation of international hotel brands, not necessarily a return on property investments. With the launch of the hotel fund, real estate investments are separated from hotel brands and hotel operations. This allows us to grow in a less capital- intensive way. At the same time, we offer institutional investors such as insurance companies or pension funds an attractive investment opportunity in the asset class of leisure hotel real estate. We have proven over decades that we can successfully build up a hotel business and develop new destinations. Not only in areas already developed for tourism such as the Mediterranean region, but also in new destinations such as Cape Verde. We see ourselves as designers and operators of hotel brands as well as developers of holiday destinations. This is where our strength and expertise is, and we will be focusing on this in future," says Peter Krueger, member of the TUI AG Executive Board responsible for Group Strategy and M&A, as well as TUI's airline, cruise and hotel assets and JVs.