Greek shipping magnate George Procopiou has acquired the entire share capital of the Astir Palace Vouliagmeni hotel group.
The relevant share purchase agreement was signed on Wednesday evening and gave the new owner 77% of the shares held by Arab investment funds.
The transaction comes almost 15 years after the start of the National Bank and TAIPED tender for the sale of the historic hotel complex on the Athens coast, a process in which George Procopiou had also been interested at the time.
The new owner of the Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens acquired 33% in October 2024 by acquiring the percentage held by the Turkish group Dogus, owned by Ferit Sahenk, which controlled 33.75%. For this 33.75%, Procopiou paid 150 million euros. This price valued the holding company of the complex at €450 million.
Today, although the price for the remaining 77% remains unclear for the time being, it is estimated that a premium was paid since it concerns a package of shares that gives full control.
It is noted that there have been successive capital returns to the original shareholders through which they have received the net proceeds from the sale of the 13 ultra-luxury villas that are being developed on the site that hosted the now demolished Aphrodite hotel, which have reportedly reached the €450-million mark.
According to the published financial statements, €317 million have been returned to shareholders in the past three years alone, and specifically in fiscal year 2021, a capital return of €160 million was made, in fiscal year 2022, €37 million and in fiscal year 2023 another €120 million.
Given that both hotels in the complex have a total capacity of 303 keys, the average price per room, a key international hotel valuation indicator, is €1.5 million and one of the highest in the world.
Today, Asteras, as the complex is more commonly known, continues to operate, in addition to the two hotels managed by Four Seasons, the Asteras Marina, the high-end Matsuhisa Athens and Beefbar restaurants, a serviced beach and a number of commercial areas both in the complex and in the marina.
Asteras was privatized after a tender by the National Bank and the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED) in October 2016 to the private equity manager AGC Equity Partners and, in particular, to its interest fund, Jermyn Street Real Estate Fund IV LP, which in turn is the parent of the owner Apollo Investment Holdco SA.
The binding financial offer that won the tender at that time amounted to €444 million, but the total value of the investment, including the public offer through which the new owners took the company off the stock exchange and the financing of the development plan, is estimated to have exceeded €650 million. Of this, at least €200 million came from a bond loan from Greek banks.
In the investment scheme, which won the tender and the ownership of the complex, the main shareholders were a subsidiary of the Turkish group Dogus with 33.75%, Hanover Investment with 25%, which belongs to the interests of the state investment arm of Abu Dhabi, the state insurance fund of Kuwait with another 25%, and five smaller entities, mostly Arab in interests.