B&B Hotels is calling on the services of the Meridia investment group to develop a platform of budget hotels with high ESG standards in Spain, enabling the group to pursue its ambitious growth plan in the Iberian Peninsula.

Meridia becomes a key financial partner in B&B Hotel's expansion programme in Spain, investing €200 million to acquire land to build hotels on the outskirts of Spain's major cities. These hotels will be leased to B&B HOTELS on the basis of a fixed contract.

Meridia will develop this hotel development strategy in collaboration with Lexxa Hotels, which will help it to identify opportunities, carry out the development work, obtain the financing and manage the handover of the projects.

In addition, through its Meridia IV fund, Meridia has already made the initial investments for this programme, acquiring four plots of land: one in Vallecas (Madrid), two in Seville and one in Vilaseca (Tarragona). The four properties will have a total of 500 rooms and will be operational from 2024.

The investment group is continuing to analyse similar transactions in locations where demand for this type of product is high, and expects to complete them in the coming months. For its part, B&B Hotels is stepping up its expansion in Iberia, where it already has 46 hotels in Spain and 11 in Portugal, offering more than 5,000 rooms.

The two companies claim that the hotels will be developed and operated in accordance with the most stringent sustainability standards, and that they will be certified by internationally recognised labels such as LEED or BREEAM. Intensive hotel development, yes, but conscious development all the same.

We are very pleased with this partnership with Meridia. B&B HOTELS is growing rapidly in Spain and Portugal. We ended 2022 with 52 hotels in Iberia, and we plan to reach more than 60 by 2023. We are convinced that this alliance with Meridia will be essential to maintain a robust pipeline and increase our number of hotels at an even faster rate. This, combined with the growth we experienced at the end of 2022, with total revenue exceeding 50% compared to 2019, is a clear indication of the strength and good reputation of B&B HOTELS in Iberia.

Lucía Méndez-Bonito, CEO of B&B HOTELS Spain and Portugal

The resilience of the sector, the growth potential of the platform and the proven liquidity of this type of product make this project an excellent opportunity. We are proud to have partnered with B&B HOTELS and Lexxa, leading companies in their respective fields, to develop this project.

Héctor Serrat, real estate partner at Meridia