First Sponsor to buy control of Germany hotel for about 49.5m euros

PROPERTY firm First Sponsor plans to snap up controlling shares of the Westin Bellevue Dresden hotel, located in Dresden, Germany, with acquisition cost valued at about 49.5 million euros (S$75.7 million), it said on Thursday.

First Sponsor plans to buy 94.9 per cent of two German companies that own and operate the hotel, with the remaining held by Event Hotels Group. Event Hotels is a European hotel operator that was the group's joint venture partner for the Bilderberg portfolio in the Netherlands acquired in August 2017. The acquisition cost including estimated transaction costs.

First Sponsor and its partner, Event Hotels, expect to spend more than 10 million euros in the "near future" to refurbish the property.

The Westin Bellevue Dresden hotel is a freehold property that is located between the old and new towns of Dresden, Germany. The 340-bedroom hotel has a main wing that is built in the 17th century.The hotel houses more than 1,800 square metres of meeting and event space equipped with modern meeting facilities.

The group said the acquisition is an opportunity to build up a larger recurrent income stream for its property holding business segment, and to further improve its geographical diversification.

Shares of First Sponsor last traded at S$1.27.