Covivio unit to buy luxury hotels portfolio from Varde - sources
MILAN (Reuters) - Real estate group Covivio Hotels is set to buy a portfolio of European luxury hotels from private equity group Varde, two sources close to the matter said on Wednesday. The deal, which should be sealed by the year end, was worth about 500 million to 600 million euros, one of the sources said.
MILAN (Reuters) - Real estate group Covivio Hotels
The deal, which should be sealed by the year end, was worth about 500 million to 600 million euros, one of the sources said.
It follows a wave of deals in the European luxury hotels sector, including the purchase of Germany's Steigenberger hotels by China's Huazhu Group
Varde bought a portfolio of nine hotels from Italian group Boscolo in 2017. It includes famous properties such as the Grand Hotel dei Dogi in Venice and Palazzo Naiadi in Rome.
Hotel investments are set for a record high this year in Italy, industry officials say. In the first nine months of 2019, investments in Italian hotels tripled to 2.56 billion euros compared with a year earlier, real estate services group CBRE said.
The head of Covivio's Italian arm Alexei Dal Pastro told a conference in Milan on Tuesday that Covivio was interested in investing in Italian hotels, without giving more details.
Covivio could not immediately be reached for comment on the Varde deal. Varde declined to comment.
French based Covivio has a stake of 42% in Covivio Hotels is specialised in the management and rental of real estate assets.
(This story corrects spelling in paragraph seven)
(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Silvia Aloisi and Edmund Blair)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
also read
France, Germany to agree to NATO role against Islamic State - sources | Reuters
By Robin Emmott and John Irish | BRUSSELS/PARIS BRUSSELS/PARIS France and Germany will agree to a U.S. plan for NATO to take a bigger role in the fight against Islamic militants at a meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday, but insist the move is purely symbolic, four senior European diplomats said.The decision to allow the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to join the coalition against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq follows weeks of pressure on the two allies, who are wary of NATO confronting Russia in Syria and of alienating Arab countries who see NATO as pushing a pro-Western agenda."NATO as an institution will join the coalition," said one senior diplomat involved in the discussions. "The question is whether this just a symbolic gesture to the United States
China's Xi says navy should become world class | Reuters
BEIJING Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for greater efforts to make the country's navy a world class one, strong in operations on, below and above the surface, as it steps up its ability to project power far from its shores.China's navy has taken an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and a new aircraft carrier launched last month.With President Donald Trump promising a US shipbuilding spree and unnerving Beijing with his unpredictable approach on hot button issues including Taiwan and the South and East China Seas, China is pushing to narrow the gap with the U.S. Navy.Inspecting navy headquarters, Xi said the navy should "aim for the top ranks in the world", the Defence Ministry said in a statement about his visit."Building a strong and modern navy is an important mark of a top ranking global military," the ministry paraphrased Xi as saying.