Hospitality-focused US real estate investor Trinity Investments has set up a London base, as part of its plans to expand into the European value-add market.
Trinity, which is based in Hawaii, will target hospitality assets primarily in Western Europe, with an emphasis on the UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland. Acquisitions worth upwards of €100m (£87m) will be targeted, with preference for deals exceeding €300m. It seeks to replicate its US platform in Europe.
The new office will be led by managing partner Ryan Donn, who has worked at Trinity since 2007. It will be based at Argyll’s serviced offices at 42 Brook Street in Mayfair, W1.
The investor pointed to a “long-term belief in the strength of the lodging sector and the growing opportunity in the European hotel real estate market”. It said it is aiming to pair its “investment and asset management capabilities in the hospitality space with its deep institutional knowledge and relationships”.
Earlier this year, Trinity teamed up with Credit Suisse Asset Management to buy the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood from a Brookfield private real estate fund for a reported $835m (£688m). It has also secured some $1.2bn from refinancing properties in its portfolio.
Since it was founded in 1996, Trinity has invested more than $6.1bn in hotels and resorts with a total of more than 14,000 rooms. It is based in Honolulu and also has an office in Los Angeles.
Sean Hehir, managing partner, president and chief executive of Trinity, said: “We pride ourselves on our ability to develop and execute creative business plans to transform underperforming or mismanaged hotels and resorts for the benefit of all parties.
“As we enter the European real estate market, we expect to continue developing our strategy and structure transactions that unlock attractive returns for our investors.”
Ryan Donn said: “The European market is in need of not just capital but also operational and management excellence to execute on the abundance of opportunities available across the continent.
“With Trinity’s decades of experience owning and redeveloping hotel properties, we are ideally suited to bring our capabilities to bear on the market here.”
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