Hotel Ritz of Madrid was acquired by Omega Capital and the hotel chain Orient-Express Hotels

On 25 April the Hotel Ritz of Madrid was acquired by Omega Capital and the hotel chain Orient-Express Hotels.

The acquisition was carried out through two different Spanish nationality vehicles incorporated for that purpose. Each of the two vehicles acquired 49,56% of the shares of the company Hotel Ritz Madrid, S.A., owner of Hotel Ritz. The other 0,8% of the shares are still owned by a group of minority shareholders. The total price of the transaction was approximately 125 Million euro.

The acquisition was partially financed by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Sucursal en España, who, advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Madrid office, granted each of the two vehicles loans for the amount of Euros 25 million. The Legal team included Juan Gómez-Acebo, Armando Albarrán, Ernesto Jiménez and Jesús López?Bragado. The amount financed by Commerzbank was 50 million euro.

Uría & Menéndez has advised Le Meridien on the Spanish Law aspects of the transaction in collaboration with Cameron McKenna London, which coordinated the transaction and advised on English Law. Specifically, Uría & Menéndez has advised Le Meridien for over seven months on: (i) the internal due diligence process; (ii) the cancellation of all the guarantees granted by LMS International, B.V. and Meridien Hoteles España, S.L.; (iii) the share sale and purchase agreement; (iv) the business and assets sale and purchase agreement; and (vi) all other corporate matters and other documents related to the transaction.

The lawyers from Uría & Menéndez who took part in the deal include Elena Úbeda (partner) Miriam Lozano, and Nuria Casillas from the Corporate and M&A Department of the Barcelona office.

Commenting on the deal, Elena Úbeda, partner of Uría & Menéndez told Latin Counsel "the importance of this strategic decision has to be understood within the redefinition of the European hotel network of Le Meridien group; this is a unique transaction in the Spanish hotel market, not only because of the relevance of the amount involved but primarily due to the status of the Hotel Ritz Madrid as one of the most emblematic and prestigious luxury hotels in Spain."

Cuatrecasas advised Orient-Express Hotels. Cuatrecasas´ team included partner Albert Garrofé, Pedro Hernández Echevarría, Angel Cobos, Cristina Alvarez, Isabel Madruga, Cecilia Hernández (labour law), Alejandro Negro (IP) and Esteban Flores (administrative law).

Baker & McKenzie represented Omega Capital. The team included partner Cecilia Pastor, who was assisted by associates Isidro del Moral and Alfonso Riveiro. Partner Alfonso Martín and associate Marceliano Hernández provided tax advise.

Commenting on the transaction, Cecilia Pastor commented to Latin Counsel, that the most challenging aspect was the limited execution time and the need to negotiate several contracts at the same time as well as a demanding due diligence process. She considered "the deal to have been very intense."