Thomas Cook joint venture secures €51m from Spanish bank to fund hotel investments
Thomas Cook has secured €51m (£45m) in funding from Spain's CaixaBank to build new hotels in Spain and the Mediterranean.
Thomas Cook Hotel Investments (TCHI), the travel group's joint venture with LMEY Investments, today secured its second round of debt funding, taking the total amount raised in the last three months by TCHI to €91m after Piraeus Bank offered an initial tranche of €40m.
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The funds will go towards investment opportunities in Spain and around the Mediterranean, including the acquisition of a 250-room hotel in the Canary Islands and a 300-room hotel in the Balearics. TCHI has seven hotels in the fund with 2,200 rooms at a value of about €250m. The ambition is to build a portfolio of 10 to 15 hotels within the next two years.
Enric Noguer, head of Thomas Cook hotels and resorts said: “This new round of funding is a big step forward for TCHI, providing us with support to accelerate our acquisition programme in our biggest holiday destination. The fund’s flagship hotel, Casa Cook Ibiza, opens this summer and with this new funding we’ll be able to create further top-class hotels and holidays for our customers.”
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Last month Thomas Cook announced it will build two new hotels in China as part of its joint venture with investment company Fosun international, including the first Asian branch of its Casa Cook brand.
The hotels, which are due to open in late 2020, will be built by Fosun and managed by Thomas Cook China.