Value hotel group easyHotel has further strengthened its financial position by securing a GBP42.5million loan from Santander UK to support its British and European expansion, alongside an additional GBP6 million loan from BRED Banque for one of its French hotel's.
The UK's new GBP42.5 million loan from Santander UK will replace a previous agreement and includes a GBP7.5 million increase. This loan facility marks the fourth collaboration between easyHotel and Santander UK. The funds will finance low-carbon investments in the UK such as the installation of heat pumps and smart metering systems as well as a full refurbishment of their Glasgow hotel. Similar low-carbon works will be taking place across 9 hotels in France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands.
For the second consecutive year, easyHotel has obtained funding from BRED Banque Populaire to expand in France, including financing for a new 110-bedroom hotel in Marseille. Set to open this autumn, the new hotel will feature the brands latest low-carbon room design which emits 21% less CO2 over a 50-year lifecycle vs the competition. The hotel is set to receive BBCA accreditation from their new low-carbon label developed with easyHotel specifically for the hotel industry. Marseille will be the fourth property in France, joining hotels in Paris Charles de Gaulle Villepinte, Paris Nord Aubervilliers and Nice Palais de Congres.
The new refinancing agreements stem from the Group's growth and a successful trading year, with the brands owned and leased 2023 hotel revenue climbing by 35% compared to 2022. Total revenue including franchised hotels surpassed EUR100m for the first time. Recent openings in Paris and Dublin have outperformed budget and with continued expansion into mainland Europe, two-thirds of sales now come from continental Europe.
2023 was a record year for revenue at easyHotel driven by our great value product and leading easy brand awareness in travel. It has been a pleasure to work with Santander for the fourth time. Looking ahead, our development team are working across more new hotel deals than ever before as we step up our growth of low carbon and great value hotels across Europe over the coming years.
Charles Persello, CFO of easyHotel
Thanks to its strategic developments and commitments, easyHotel is experiencing strong demand and has a robust pipeline for owned and franchised developments into 2024 and beyond, with the potential to grow by 120 hotels over the next four years.
We are pleased to be supporting easyHotel with this loan facility, enabling the business to expand both in the UK and overseas. We welcome the hotel group's growth strategy and are looking forward to seeing our relationship with easyHotel thrive.
Paul O'Reilly Relationship Director - Hotels, at Santander UK
As well as opening in Marseille, easyHotel opens its fourth hotel in Zurich later this year. Further refinancing deals are expected to be announced for Spain soon as the Group is currently building hotels in Barcelona Meridiana, Alicante and Valencia.
About easyHotel
easyHotel is an affordable, low-carbon chain of value hotels. It was founded in 2004 by Sir Stelios Haji loannou and is now 79.1% owned by ICAMAP Investments S.a r.l and Ivanhoe Cambridge.
The company's purpose is to offer affordable travel to all. It now has over 42 establishments in 11 countries, with all hotels ideally located in city centres or near major transport links. Over the past few years, easyHotel has been working to achieve its ambitious growth objectives, with several developments in the pipeline in major city centres and a planned schedule of hotel openings. It has the potential to grow to 120 European hotels over the next four years.
ICAMAP Investments S.a r.l. is an investment fund managed by ICAMAP S.a r.l., an asset management company founded by Guillaume Poitrinal, Harm Meijer and Alexandre Aquien.
Ivanhoe Cambridge internationally develops and invests in high-quality real estate properties. It is a subsidiary of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), a global investment group.
Operating hotels:
easyHotel has an estate of 42 hotels with c.4,300 rooms, comprising 16 franchised hotels (c.1,300 rooms) and 26 owned and leased hotels (c.3,000 rooms)
Hotels:
United Kingdom: London Shoreditch, London Paddington, London Victoria, London South Kensington, London Croydon, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Ipswich, Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Oxford, Reading, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast
Benelux: Amsterdam City Centre, Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam Zaandam, The Hague, The Hague Scheveningen, Rotterdam, Maastricht, Brussels
Europe: Berlin, Charles de Gaulle (Paris), Paris Nord Aubervilliers, Marseille, Nice, Alicante, Barcelona Fira, Barcelona Meridiana, Malaga, Madrid, Valencia, Zurich City Centre, Zurich West, Zurich Central Station, Zurich Main Station, Basel, Lisbon, Sofia, Budapest, Dublin
SANTANDER UK PLC 
