Yotel Inks $250M Partnership With Starwood Capital Group

LONDON—A fund affiliated with Starwood Capital has committed to making a strategic investment of $250 million in Yotel. Also included in the deal, Starwood’s 30% stake in the hospitality company. Yotel’s expected to use the financing for real estate acquisitions for new-build, hotel conversion and adaptive-reuse properties as the brand expands its international scale.

“This investment will help Yotel to strengthen its balance sheet, accelerate its growth objectives, expand geographically and enhance Yotel’s capabilities in particular in such fields as technology and distribution,” said Yotel CEO Hubert Viriot.

Starwood’s investment in and ongoing partnership with Yotel will further enable the hospitality company’s worldwide expansion, with a specific focus on Europe, North America and Asia. The Greenwich, CT-based investment firm’s already secured city center sites in Edinburgh, Scotland; Glasgow, Scotland; and Amsterdam, which are expected to open as Yotels by 2019.

“Yotel has global appeal and can be easily scaled up with key strategic acquisitions and developments in desired city center and airport locations,” said Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood.

Cody Bradshaw, managing director, head of European hotels at Starwood, and Sarah Broughton, ‎SVP at Starwood, will join the Yotel board of directors, alongside representatives of the company’s major shareholders, including the Jassim Al-Bahar Group; IFA Hotels & Resorts; United Investment Portugal; and Aqarat, which jointly own 65% stake in the company.

“We are grateful to expand our group of investors with like-minded partners like Starwood,” Viriot said. “The Group is focused on real estate development, built upon innovation. Starwood’s creativity is its primary differentiator—and the source of its ability to unlock value on behalf of investors. Yotel will continue to build on its own heritage of cleverly minded innovation and grow further with input from Starwood Capital Group. We look forward to operating with the same brand and spirit, with more enthusiasm than ever.”