MHG completes Portugal’s largest-ever hospitality deal
Minor Hotel Group (MHG) has completed the final stage of its acquisition of Tivoli Hotels & Resorts, a well-known Portugal-based brand with 14 properties across Portugal and Brazil.
MHG owns and operates hotels and resorts in 22 countries across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, South America, Africa and the Indian Ocean, and this latest acquisition, at a cost of 294.2 million, not only marks the groups strategic entry into Europe and Latin America, but also gives it a strong operating platform to drive further growth in those markets.
Major acquisition
This represents the largest-ever hospitality transaction in Portugal and is a highly accretive acquisition for MHG. The Tivoli business is strong, generating revenue of 121 million and normalised EBITDA of 31 million in 2015. The acquisition not only adds strong earnings underpinned by valuable hotel assets, but is also well-timed to capitalise on recent strong growth in Portugal’s tourism market. 
The acquisition was completed in separate stages over the course of more than 12 months under highly challenging circumstances, highlighting MHGs strong, multijurisdictional deal execution capability. This final transaction follows MHGs acquisition in 2015 of five Tivoli hotels in Portugal and two Tivoli hotels in Brazil, along with the Tivoli brand in Brazil.
The move now gives MHG the opportunity to expand the reach of the Tivoli brand into its other areas of operation including the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In addition MHG intends to fully capitalise on Tivolis strong asset portfolio by investing further in the Tivoli hotel assets to further enhance the positioning of the brand across its markets.
This final stage of the brands acquisition comprises seven hotels in Portugal the 119-key Tivoli Jardim Lisboa Hotel in Lisbon; the 77-key Tivoli Sintra Hotel in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Sintra, and the 30-key Tivoli Palácio de Seteais to the west of Lisbon. It also has four properties in in the Algarve, one of Europes premier tourism destinations the 324-key Tivoli Lagos Hotel Beach Club & Golf; the 280-key Tivoli Victoria Vilamoura Golf Resort Conference & Spa; The Residences at Victoria Clube de Golf which has 88-keys, plus the 100-key Tivoli Coimbra Hotel in historic Coimbra north of Lisbon. These seven properties are part of the overall Tivoli portfolio of 14 hotels, totalling 12 in Portugal and two in Brazil, with almost 3,000 keys in total.
World-class operator
Dillip Rajakarier, COO of Minor International and CEO of Minor Hotel Group, said: We are excited to add Tivoli to Minor Hotel Groups portfolio of hotel brands. With over 80 years of history, the Tivoli brand brings with it a rich heritage, a highly experienced team and a deeply loyal customer base. The Tivoli acquisition further cements MHGs position as a world-class hotel operator, with a portfolio now extending to Europe and South America. Looking forward, we have already planned further investment into the Tivoli hotel assets and its operating and distribution infrastructure to realise the full potential of this strategic investment.”
The Tivoli acquisition is the latest in a series of international investments by Minor Hotel Group as part of its long-term diversification strategy, which over the last two years has seen the group invest over USD 550 million in hotel projects in Southern and East Africa, Asia, Australia, South America and Europe. In addition to Tivoli the investments include a joint venture with Sun International, new hotel projects in Australia and Malaysia and investments with existing joint venture partners Rani Investment and Elewana Collection in Southern and East Africa. With these additional Tivoli hotels, MHGs overall hotel portfolio now totals 145 properties across 22 countries. 
