The arrival of Portobello to the capital of Meeting Point (FTI Touristik) to save SEPI's chestnuts from the fire will presumably generate the entry of a new tourist brand to the south of Gran Canaria: Bluesea Hotels, already present in markets such as Tenerife or Lanzarote. This information was provided this Monday by a financial sector executive to Maspalomas24H who asked not to be named and recalled that the acquisition of the Meeting Point operations must still overcome a series of technical filters.
One of the reasons private equity investors are showing interest in the hotel sector in southern Gran Canaria is the opportunity they see to improve quality and profitability. Due to the pandemic and the resulting rise in inflation and interest rates, new hotel construction has declined, with the number of new hotel rooms under construction estimated to have fallen by almost 8,5% since the peak reached in 2019. On the other hand, guest demand for hotel stays in Spain has returned strongly after the pandemic, providing a boost to those who own existing, marketable assets.
Hotel group Bluesea Hotels has set the stage for further growth and securing operations and jobs on the islands where Meeting Point is currently located. The Portobello-owned chain is backed by Swiss investment group Partners which in 2024 entered Bluesea, acquiring a solid stake in the company and its 25 hotels. Partners will work alongside mid-market private equity firm Portobello Capital, which has supported Bluesea in its growth to date.
Portobello Capital acquired Bluesea in 2017 with the aim of helping the management team build the hotel business around key pillars such as expansion, standardisation of the hotels in the portfolio and digitalisation of the business. Since then, success has allowed Bluesea’s business to triple in size. Bluesea’s core business is focused on the three- and four-star hotel segment, with resort hotels in Spain’s top destinations such as the Balearic and Canary Islands, the Costa Brava and the Costa del Sol, and city break destinations such as Madrid. In total, its hotel portfolio currently has around 5.100 rooms.
Back in December, Geoffrey Bonnefoy-Cudraz of Partners Group’s real estate team said that a key part of the next phase of Bluesea’s expansion will be the acquisition of more hotels and the refurbishment of existing properties and that is where Meeting Point fits in. Bluesea’s established hotels are located in some of Spain’s most popular holiday destinations, with a proven track record and consistent occupancy levels. A key part of the business plan is value creation by making strategic acquisitions to build out Bluesea’s platform, capitalising on the highly fragmented three- to four-star hotel segment in Spain, which represents the majority of the country’s hotel market.
Portobello Partners is no stranger to investing in the hospitality sector. In early 2024, it acquired a stake in Trinity Investments, a US-based real estate investment group that recently acquired the 266-room Standard boutique hotel in London. Partners also has stakes in a Ritz-Carlton hotel resort in the US, a hotel and wellness centre in the Alps and a portfolio of Ibis-branded Accor hotels in Australia.
