Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Investment

  • World Class acquires Planet Swim&Gym and opens the 38th club in Romania

    World Class acquires Planet Swim&Gym and opens the 38th club in Romania

    On November 28, World Class opened its 38th club in Romania and 29th in Bucharest, following the acquisition of Planet Swim & Gym club.

    “The acquisition of Planet Swim&Gym is a strategic step that takes us further into our mission. It has a very good location and the members will benefit from the support of a strong team of health and fitness experts. The club offers indoor and outdoor pools with a great relaxation area, making it ideal for families and also for after work wellness. We are strengthening our network and give more to our members by adding all the health & fitness services of Planet Swim&Gym.  The club did a very good work building a health & fitness community, being highly successful in its swimming offer for kids and attracting families to be active together. This club is an excellent match to our network and it will be our 38th health & fitness club. The new acquisition brings our services even closer to the homes and workplaces of more Romanians. In the near future we have new plans for extending our networks in strategic locations.”, says Kent Orrgren, CEO World Class.

    Starting November 28, the club reopens as World Class Planet to offer members a premium facility with premium training conditions, innovative health & fitness equipment and a highly experienced team of health & fitness professionals. It will be a Gold Category club.

    The former Planet Swim & Gym club had a history of 15 years and all its members will be automatically become World Class members with access to all World Class clubs throughout Romania, up to the Gold category.

    “Planet Swim & Gym is a club with a long history in Romania of over 15 years and a strong health & fitness community. I am glad that following this acquisition, the club’s existing members will have access to even more benefits, more health & fitness clubs and an extended network of health & fitness specialists. I am confident that what we have built so far with Planet Swim & Gym will continue to grow and the result will be even more happy members who will choose a healthy lifestyle”, said Alexander Fagiolo, owner Planet Swim & Gym.

    The three-level club will provide two aerobic studios for group fitness classes, indoor cycling, private studio for 1-to-1 training sessions, interior semi-olympic pool and also an exterior swimming pool and a summer garden with lounge area. Members will also benefit from the services of a beauty salon.

  • ASSA ABLOY Acquires AM Group in Australia

    ASSA ABLOY Acquires AM Group in Australia

    ASSA ABLOY has signed an agreement to acquire AM Group, an Australian industrial door company within entrance automation.

    “I am very pleased to welcome AM Group and their employees into the ASSA ABLOY Group. I welcome this complementary addition to our business, specializing in innovative entrance automation,” says Nico Delvaux, President and CEO of ASSA ABLOY.

    “AM Group complements both our product offering and our geographic coverage in Australia. By adding their strong product portfolio, which includes rolling steel doors and bi-fold doors, to ASSA ABLOY’s commercial network, technologies and competences, we will continue our successful journey,” says Mogens Jensen, Executive Vice President of ASSA ABLOY and Head of Entrance Systems Division.

    AM Group was founded in Australia in 1923 and has 425 employees. The head office is located in Sydney, Australia.

    Sales for 2019 are expected to reach about AUD 120 million (approx. SEK 800 million) with a good EBIT margin and the acquisition will be accretive to EPS from the start.

    The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2020.

  • Hard Rock Hotels will open in Prague, probably in 2023

    Hard Rock Hotels will open in Prague, probably in 2023

    Hard Rock Hotel Prague, opening in 2023, is located within the wider city center. The hotel will have 523 rooms and suites, will boast great views overlooking Letna Park and the Prague Castle from the hotel’s sophisticated rooftop Sky Bar.

    Alongside the Sky Bar, the 6th-floor will be home to an elegant specialty restaurant, with south-facing terraces overlooking the Vltava river valley, set to become the most desirable destination bar and restaurant duo in Prague. Views of the hotel’s three-storey ‘Feature Wall’, a 5,900 sq-ft soundwave of moving light, can be enjoyed at Lobby Bar and the corridors will be laden with carefully curated music memorabilia. While all day dining will be offered at Sessions, a stylish restaurant which will feature an ingredient driven menu. Guests can also venture to Constant Grind Coffee & Bar, which will serve coffee and light bites during the day and transform into a lively cocktail bar at night.

    As well as a rooftop swimming pool and a full-service Rock Spa, other brand-signature highlights will include a Body Rock Fitness Centre, Rock Shop, Biz Business Center and the brand-signature Rock Star Suite.

    In-room programs include music-infused yoga program Rock Om and The Sound of Your Stay, where guests will have complimentary use of Fender guitars, amps and headphones. The project will include an 1,800 capacity ballroom for live entertainment and meeting spaces totalling 59,000 sq-ft, while the external Woodstock Lawn will be used for exhibitions, social events and more, for as many as 3,000, truly showcasing the brand’s music-inspired offerings.

    Hard Rock Hotels will open in Madrid, Dublin and Budapest

    Hard Rock Hotel Prague is the latest in a series of hotel announcements from the brand, following the recent opening of Hard Rock Hotel Maldives, the 30th hotel in the portfolio, and Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, the world’s first Guitar Hotel.

    The brand look forward to an exciting array of openings in 2020 including Hard Rock Hotel Dublin, Hard Rock Hotel Madrid, Hard Rock Hotel Amsterdam and Hard Rock Hotel Budapest.

  • Aon to acquire CoverWallet, a leading digital insurance platform

    Aon to acquire CoverWallet, a leading digital insurance platform

    Aon announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CoverWallet, a leading digital insurance platform for small and medium-sized businesses.

    The acquisition provides Aon with additional access to the fast-growing, $200+ billion premium digital insurance market for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as the opportunity to leverage CoverWallet’s platform to develop and scale innovative digital client experiences that support the firm’s Aon United growth strategy.

    “We are excited to combine Aon’s expertise in data and analytics and global distribution with CoverWallet’s market-defining platform to create new sources of value for our clients,” said Greg Case, CEO of Aon. “CoverWallet’s culture of innovation is transforming the insurance landscape, and together we have the opportunity to further strengthen and expand the application of their digital client experience.”

    CoverWallet is already a global brand

    Founded in 2015 by technology entrepreneurs Inaki Berenguer and Rashmi Melgiri, CoverWallet has more than 300 employees across engineering, digital marketing, data science, business intelligence, design, and operations, with offices in New York City, Rochester, NY, and Spain.

    CoverWallet also maintains many strategic partnerships with top insurance companies, including Chubb, CNA, Progressive, Starr, AIG, Zurich, The Hanover, Hiscox, Liberty Mutual, and AmTrust, among others. Earlier this year, CoverWallet and Aon announced an initial commercial partnership, launched a pilot in Australia which later expanded to the U.S, and worked together to build additional pilot programs in the U.S.

    The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2020, after which the CoverWallet organization will go to market as CoverWallet, an Aon company.

  • Hotel industry expects further growth in Europe

    Hotel industry expects further growth in Europe

    The hotel industry is investing: 1 billion € will be spent on new hotel projects in major cities in Central and Eastern Europe next year, 400 million € in Austria and 4 billion € in Germany. 300 international hotel experts discussed current industry trends in Vienna.

    Further growth in the hotel industry was the central theme of the INTERNATIONAL HOTEL INVESTMENT & DESIGN CONFERENCE in Vienna at the Hotel Andaz Vienna am Belvedere. Participants included leading industry players from Hyatt, Accor, Oyo, GBI, UBM Development, Signa Real Estate, Fauchon Hospitality, Hilton, Christie & Co, Arbireo Hospitality Invest, Erste Group, Radisson and Louvre Hotels.

    Keynote speaker Steven Kuhn, a decorated U.S. Army veteran and successful author and consultant, spoke about the importance of change based on his personal story during the Iraq war: “You can’t control the changes that are coming. The bigger the challenge, the bigger the potential for change.” His advice to executives: “You need to create space and trust for your team to drive your vision.”

    The importance of the wow moment

    The architecture and design panel vividly discussed the importance of latest trends: “It’s all about the wow moment, the instagrammable moment,” said Ben Martin from HKS Advisory Services. Thousands of Instagram-Selfies posted by guests in the cool lobby, the rooftop bar or poolside can significantly relieve the marketing budget of a hotel.

    “It is important to create experiences for people’s memories, and for the guests to have instagrammable moments,” said architect Vitalija Katine from the London design firm Jestico + Whiles.

    Projects in big cities

    The investor panel showed that the hunt for the best deal is not just a bargain hunt in the growth region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Investors and hotel developers are concentrating on projects in big cities and “mature markets”, said Martin Löcker of UBM Development.

    These markets have the advantage of being liquid. “If people want to get out of their assets, in Poland this is possible. The Czech Republic is also a very good market”, he said.

    In addition to the investment magnets Warsaw and Prague, Bucharest and Budapest are more recently attracting a lot of investment. However, the Central and Eastern European market still offers a lot of space to develop: According to experts, the European hotel transaction market amounts to 20 to 25 billion euros per year, of which around 1 billion € is invested in the CEE region, 400 million € in Austria and 4 billion € in Germany according to Löcker.

    A highlight of the dense conference program was the presentation of the Brand Award by the students of the Modul University Vienna: The Millenials chose Park Hyatt Hotels as the most attractive luxury hotel brand. The second and third places went to the Six Senses Hotel Resort Group and the Hotel Sacher.

  • OTP launched the acquisition mortgage loan with a fixed interest rate

    OTP Bank Romania launched the acquisition mortgage loan with a fixed interest rate during the first five years. The product meets the banking market trend regarding the loan offer addressed to individuals for real estate investments and acquisitions while being aligned with the strategy of increasing the number of clients and of diversifying the loan offer granted by OTP Bank.

    Among the features of the new lending offer, there is the possibility to choose the fixed interest rate in the first five years and a variable interest rate formed by CIRC + fixed margin for the rest of the lending period, but also offering an interest rate diminution for transferring the revenue into a current OTP Bank account.

    „Launching the acquisition mortgage loan with a fixed interest rate during the first five years is in line with the OTP Bank Romania strategy of offering our clients a diversified range of products to choose from, so they can select the one most suited to their risk profile and their own needs. We were nominated Bank of the year in the category of Best Mortgage loan, as such, we intend to remain the best and to evolve in this direction” said Roxana Hidan, Deputy CEO Divizia Retail of OTP Bank România.

  • OTP Bank financed the largest organic blueberries plantation in Romania

    Situated in the Mija village, the I.L. Caragiale commune in Dâmbovița, MerryBerry is the largest organic blueberry plantation in Romania. It currently covers a  100 hectares area, on which the shrubs were planted in 2016 – 2017, meaning that it will reach an annual production of over 1,500 tons of blueberries, starting 2021.

    Thus, MerryBerry has the potential to become the largest organic blueberries plantation in Europe, competing with the big established producers in Spain, Poland, Germany and France.

    The MerryBerry plantation distinguishes by its efficiency and technology: it has modern video surveillance systems, GPS monitoring of the machines and an irrigation system that ensures fruit production regardless of the rainfall water supply. Besides irrigating the crop of blueberries, this system also allows the introduction of fertilizers in the irrigation water after a predetermined nutrition program, at different stages of crop development. The fruits are harvested year by year in June, July and August.

    OTP Bank financed with 10.5 million lei the construction of the MerryBerry refrigerated warehouse, necessary for keeping the blueberries in optimal conditions, sorting them and delivering them in the best conditions to the stores in Romania, England or Germany where the company has distribution contracts.

    For immediate access after harvesting the fruit, it is located in the middle of the MerryBerry plantation and will use the most advanced refrigeration technologies, thus ensuring the freshness of the fruit. The surface of the warehouse is 2500 square meters, and among its facilities there is a high performance automatic sorting and packing line. The warehouse will have three cooling chambers and five CA / ULO chambers.

     „Our contribution to the agribusiness sector is a long-term one and we work closely with the Romanian farmers regardless of the size of their business. Thus, we had the opportunity to observe their tendency to invest in technology more and more, which is why we decided to expand the range of products and services addressed to them. We have for products and services designed to support them in this endeavor, having the potential to change the Romanian agriculture for the better. Financing the MerryBerry deposit is another step we take in this direction”, said Alexandru Neagu, SME Division Director, OTP Bank România.

  • Cineplexx Romania continues its expansion on the local market

    Cineplexx Romania, the local subsidiary of Cineplexx International, continues its expansion on the local market by taking over the multiplex cinema within Iris Titan Shopping Center, in Bucharest.

    The multiplex, previously operated by Cine Globe, has seven cinema halls and a total capacity of 950 seats.

    Following the taking over, the cinema will be renamed Cineplexx Titan and will welcome its customers with a special offer starting mid-August, followed by a series of promotions for audiences of all ages.

    In the following two years, Cineplexx Romania is planning to further expand its presence with several movie theaters in Bucharest and other major cities in the country, having already announced three new locations in Satu Mare, Sibiu and Targu Mures until the beginning of next year.

    The operator entered the Romanian market earlier this year after acquiring Grand Cinema & More in Baneasa Shopping City, in which further investments will also be made.