WHITE PLAINS, NY- Starwood Hotels & Resorts said yesterday that its CIGA portfolio, a collection of 25 properties in Europe, is up for sale. Recent reports indicate that Blackstone Group LP, Bass Plc and Accor SA are potential suitors for the hotels.
Starwood said that the hotels are worth about $1.44 billion and that the sale of CIGA would be significantly accretive to earnings per share as management would expect a double digit EBITDA multiple sale price. The company expects to market the portfolio, in whole or in part, in 2001.
Included in the sale would be two Sardinia assets, which total more than 6,000 acres of land including several miles of beachfront property. This land is currently in various stages of the entitlement process that has been proceeding for several years. In general, the CIGA assets face little new build competition, as they typically are located in prime locations in dense urban markets in Europe.
At the same time, Granada Compass is seeking a buyer for its Meridien chain. Accor was said to have been interested in Meridien as well, but recent reports indicated that talks between Accor and Granada have broken down. (11/1/00)