Athenee Palace Hilton, the first hotel to be privatised in Romania, is now up for sale, sources close to the talks told BUSINESS Magazin. The price shareholders are asking is $17 million (13 million euros), according to the same sources.
After several years of talks, the hotel's owners have reached agreement on exiting the business, but have yet to find a buyer. Interested parties include businessman Horia Ciorcila (founder of Banca Transilvania and Astral Telecom) and Liviu Tudor (owner of Prefabricate Vest). Investment funds may also be interested in this business.
The five star hotel is owned by the Athenee Phenix Group and is operated by the Hilton international chain. Athenee Phenix Group shareholders are made up of three Romanian companies (who together own approximately 52%) and three French companies that are all Vivendi spin-offs.
The Romanian side comprises Athenee Palace SA (a company in which the state controls 42%) with 36%, C.M.C. International Impex SA (a company controlled by businessman Mihail Carciog, one of the founders of Evenimentul Zilei daily newspaper) with around 12%, and Hapcorp Romanian SA with 4%. The French side comprises Compagnie Immobiliere Phenix, Feal International and Etudes Generales Constructions Internationales, which together own some 48% in Athenee Phenix Group (APG).
APG was established in 1994 and invested approximately $42 million in the refurbishment of the Athenee Palace Hotel. A symbol of Bucharest between the two world wars, and one of the best-known hotels in Romania, Athenee Palace was severely damaged in the revolution of December 1989.
Part of the amount required for the refurbishment and modernisation of the hotel came from two loans: one supplied by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and worth $14.3 million and the other from a syndicate of French banks for $16.9 million.
Several shareholders have attempted in the past to exit the business, but nothing was finalised. However, shareholders have reached an agreement in recent months and the company's papers were reorganised.
laurentiu.ispir@businessmagazin.ro ;
bogdan.neagu@businessmagazin.ro
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