Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, creator and owner of the easy family of brands, has announced the acquisition of 100 per cent of the share capital of easyHotel Ltd by investment funds managed by Tristan Capital Partners LLP.
Tristan Capital Partners is a real estate investment management firm with assets under management exceeding €15 billion.
easyHotel Ltd was first listed on the London AIM stock exchange in 2014.
Since 2019, the company has been majority-owned by investment firms ICAMAP and Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate investment arm of CDPQ.
In 2020, these firms took the company private and oversaw significant growth in its hotel portfolio.
Until now, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou retained a 17.38 per cent stake in easyHotel Ltd.
However, as part of the transaction, the new owner will exercise its right to acquire all shares in the company, ensuring a clean and unified ownership structure.
The easyGroup will continue to license the easyHotel.com brand to the company, receiving a fair amount for the right to use the name.
“I would like to personally thank our partners at ICAMAP and Ivanhoé Cambridge for their trust and support of easy and to wish them every success in their next investment steps,” said Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.
“As is customary in the life cycle of private equity, the time has come for their participation to pass to a new investor,” he added. “Today, we welcome to the easy family of brands Tristan Capital Partners, a highly respected investor in real estate, as the new owner of easyHotel.com.”
He also said that “the fact that this is the second strategic investor with significant capital to invest in easyHotel.com is a strong endorsement of the success of easyHotel’s business model, as well as the operating model of the easyGroup, which created and continues to evolve the easy family of brands”.
“In its strategic proposal, Tristan recognised the value of the easy brand in supporting its growth, and we look forward to their plans for rapid expansion across Europe,” Haji-Ioannou explained.
Kristian Smyth, Managing Director, Investments at Tristan Capital Partners, said that “Tristan’s investment funds have established a leading position in the European budget hotels sector”.
“With this agreement, our total investments in the hospitality sector now exceed €1 billion,” he continued. “The affordable hotel segment is a key pillar of our investment strategy in Europe, reflecting our belief in the long-term growth potential of this underrepresented market.”
“The easyHotel brand enhances our existing platform, thanks to its exceptionally strong recognition and the reliable, affordable experience it offers in central locations,” he added. “Our aim is to significantly expand our footprint and strengthen our operating strategy.”
On his part, Alexandre Aquien, Chairman of the Board of Directors of easyHotel and co-founder of ICAMAP, said that “as departing shareholders of easyHotel, we would like to thank Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou for our collaboration”.
“We are proud of our strategic partnership, which led easyHotel through a meaningful transformation,” he stated.
“We express our gratitude to the management team and employees of easyHotel, and we are confident that their successful journey will continue under the new ownership,” Aquien added.
Meanwihle, Karim Malak, CEO of easyHotel, said that “as a pan-European brand and part of the easy family, we remain committed to delivering high-quality hotels with a low environmental footprint to our customers”.
“Over the past five years, the contribution of our majority shareholders – ICAMAP and Ivanhoé Cambridge – has been pivotal in our growth,” Malak stated.
“Today, the EPISO 6 fund, advised by Tristan Capital Partners, is preparing to take over the company’s share capital, generating excitement for the future,” he added.
“The additional resources and real estate expertise of Tristan will support our continued expansion at a time when we are seeing record-high interest from potential new partners,” he continued.
“Together, we look forward to further strengthening our offering and growing our network,” Malak concluded.
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