Lopesan follows the agenda of getting rid of assets to become a managing entity of hotel spaces. Just as it has sold all the IFAs to venture capital funds in Spain such as Blackstone, it maintains ownership of the Meloneras venues and now it is up to the emblematic IFA hotels in Germany to leave the property portfolio. A financial source consulted by Maspalomas24H expressed his disappointment this Thursday because Lopesan said at ITB 2023 that it strengthens its agenda in Germany when it sold the first hotel that allowed it to locate income in a stable scenario like the German one and in a market like the social and health sector. . Azora is going to invest 40 million in renovations, as confirmed by a source from this company this Thursday to Maspalomas24H.
The chairman of the supervisory board of LS Invest AG (Lopesan changed the company name to dilute the IFA Hotels brand a few years ago), Santiago de Armas, Lopesan's lawyer and member of the supervisory board of LS Invest AG, Inés Arnaldos, Gonzalo García-Lago of Azora, Yaiza García Suarez, financial director of LS Invest AG and the managing director of IFA Insel Ferien Anlagen GmbH & Co. KG, IFA's lawyer Peter Wehmer have been in the sale negotiations.
At the moment, IFA Fehmarn Hotel & Ferien-Centrum and the Südstrand-Klinik Fehmarn (back tower) have been sold to Azora by Lopesan. Although the operation was carried out in December, the staff was informed at the end of January and have requested labor mediation from German authorities. In Germany, the Works Constitution Law, the new owner cannot change the conditions of the workers in the next 4 years. The German regulation provides that workers can oppose the sale, although Lopesan can announce an ERE to terminate its activity in that specific geographic market.
A week ago Lopesan held a meeting with the unions in Germany. The Gran Canaria company has committed to the workers that nothing will change as a result of the sale since Lopesan will receive a long-term hotel and clinic management contract and will continue to operate under the IFA name. The new owner and representatives of the Lopesan Group did not give concrete figures on the purchase price and delivery date on Friday. Rather, García-Lago spoke of an ongoing process. Azora has created a company called Balticum OpCo Fehmarn Hotel GmbH, which is part of the Azora fund and has its registered office in Frankfurt since November 2022.
In November 2019, Azora Gestión registered the Azora European Hotel & Lodging Prospectus with the CNMV, a vehicle regulated by the CNMV, managed by Azora Gestión, and with capital mostly from third parties. As of December 2020, AEHL had received investment commitments worth 680 million (including commitments from Azora Group entities). That's where the money comes from to purchase Lopesan's German assets. AEHL focuses on two large categories, encompassing “sun and beach” tourist hotels in Europe and tourist hotels in strategic European cities and other secondary but consolidated tourist destinations in Europe.
