The Student Hotel Secures €90 Million Bank Financing for New/Existing Spanish Assets

Provided by Santander, Sabadell and HSBC

Amsterdam, October 10, 2019 –Pan-European operator, developer and investor, The Student Hotel (TSH), has secured €90 million in financing for the development of two new hotels in Madrid and Barcelona, as well as refinancing for its existing assets in Spain. The lending was provided by a syndicate of three banks.

The financing package forms part of a €2.0 billion accelerated investment programme by Amsterdam-headquartered TSH across European markets over the next five years, that is expected to result in the Spanish market growing in value to about a quarter of its operating portfolio, from 10% currently.

Lucas Rijckmans, Chief Corporate Services at TSH, said: “Spain is a key target market within The Student Hotel’s European expansion strategy, due to its increasing attractiveness as an international student base and its draw as a major tourist destination. A growing number of academic exchange and summer school programmes is further driving the demand for high-quality short-stay student accommodation, particularly in Madrid and Barcelona, where there is a severe shortage of supply. By mid-2021, we expect our total Spanish investments to exceed €200 million.”

Santander, Sabadell and HSBC provided the €90 million in financing divided proportionally between them and this has been allocated more or less evenly across the bulk of TSH’s development projects and standing assets in Spain.

According to Christie & Co, in its recently published 2019 report on the hotel market in Spain, “with three projects in Madrid, Barcelona and San Sebastián, TSH (The Student Hotel) will be the hotel operator that will generate the largest number of rooms in the cities it studied”. The report also concluded that TSH would be the fastest growing operator to target the student segment in Spain in the coming years.

The three TSH projects currently underway are:

Madrid La Imprenta – Refurbishment of an existing complex on the Plaza de España to create a 340-room TSH, with Collab co-working space, has already started. The opening of the hotel is expected early 2021.

Barcelona Provençals – The new-build 300-room hotel will have the full TSH brand experience, including its largest Collab co-working space in Europe at over 3,500 sqm, and is scheduled to open in mid-2021. Provençals will be accessible for any guest to stay, unlike TSH’s existing campus-style student accommodation in the city at Barcelona Poble Sec (97 rooms – opened 2007) and Barcelona Marina (500 rooms – opened in 2009), which are restricted to students only.

TSH San Sebastian – This 327-room new-build hotel with co-working space is scheduled to open in 2021, but is not yet included in the recent TSH bank financing package in Spain.