Grupo Espirito Santo’s Rioforte Investments unit will probably attract plenty of potential investors for its planned sale of the Tivoli Hotels & Resorts chain as tourism in Portugal rises, said Jose Covas, head of valuation at Lisbon-based property adviser Worx.
“I’m expecting strong demand for the Tivoli Hotels at a time when investment in commercial property is on the rise and the tourism sector in Portugal is booming,” Covas said in an interview today. “It would be one of the biggest real estate deals in Portugal since at least 2008.”
Rioforte, a unit of family-controlled Grupo Espirito Santo, said today it plans to sell its remaining assets as quickly as possible after a court in Luxembourg rejected a request for creditor protection. Among the holdings is Tivoli Hotels & Resorts, comprised of 12 properties in Portugal and two in Brazil.
The Tivoli hotel chain is “reportedly” worth €300 million to €350 million ($385 million to $450 million), Roger Francis, an analyst at Mizuho International, said in a 4 July note to investors.
Portugal’s hotels posted the highest monthly revenue since at least 2006 in August as overnight stays by British, Spanish and French tourists increased, the Lisbon-based National Statistics Institute said on 15 October. Spending on commercial properties in Portugal is forecast to rise to as much as €800 million this year from €322 million in 2013, according to broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc.
Bloomberg News, edited by Hospitality Ireland
