While Best Western wishes to improve the range of its network, its member hotels encounter difficulties financing their investments because of their lack of credibility as hotelier alone against the banks and a lack of equity to put down for a loan. Aware of these setbacks for investment, the hotel cooperative decided to act by implementing two financing levers through the creation of an internal investment committee to accompany members in their efforts, and the signature of a partnership agreement with Bpifrance to create a guarantee fund. Presided over by Jean-Bernard Falco, of Paris Inn Group, the internal investment committee consists of five to seven members, including three hoteliers and two directors from the headquarters of Best Western. Its goal is to begin the financing of projects, by accompanying and helping hoteliers in their efforts, by providing a moral guarantee for public and private lenders through the validation of the dossier, or even by giving a loan for development made possible thanks to the partnership between Best Western and Bpifrance. The signature of the partnership agreement between Best Western and Bpifrance focusses on the creation of a guarantee fund, the purpose of which is to approve development loans to members of the hotel network. This fund is matched by Best Western and Bpifrance, and amounts to a million euros for each part in 2014, to which will be added 300,000 for each of the parties in 2015 and then in 2016. It will also be fed by a membership fee paid by members. In this way the fund will make it possible to obtain Development loans for a total of 7.5 million euros in 2014, a sum which will then be enriched by 2.25 million additional euros each year. The amount of loans given will vary from 100,000 to 200,000 euros, and will be able to be used for acquisitions, transmissions, renovations or refurbishments to meet norms. No guarantee will be requested of the borrower, who will have 7 years to pay off the loan, with a franchise on capital for two years. The borrowers must nonetheless commit themselves to the Best Western brand for the seven years of the loan.
United-States
