Portugal’s leading private equity and restructuring firm ECS is adding to the hotel transaction rumour mill, with talks of having put to the market a portfolio of 20 hotels and development land, for a total of €1.4billion.
The hotels, which include the iconic Palácio do Governador in Lisbon, are all managed by NAU Hotels & Resorts. The company was founded in 2014 by ECS to rebrand and operate a portfolio of hotels in Lisbon, the Algarve and Alentejo previously under the failing CS brand.
It is understood that the portfolio has attracted the interest of a number of global private equity firms, including Blackstone, Apollo Global Management, Fortress Investment Group, and Bain Capital.
The European hotel market has recently seen a number of investors announcing their interest in purchasing properties, and Portugal has been hailed as one of the markets with strongest potential.