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Mohari Hospitality Ltd is in exclusive talks to purchase Venice\u2019s five-star Hotel Bauer, according to people familiar with the matter, beating other bidders including billionaire Bernard Arnault. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mohari is offering to buy the property, located on the Grand Canal, for \u20ac309 million ($335 million), according to one of the people with direct knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified given the information is private. Established by former PokerStars co-founder Mark Scheinberg, the company focuses on luxury properties and its existing European investments include the five-star Four Seasons hotel in Madrid.<\/p>\n
King Street Capital Management has been running the process to sell the Venetian hotel, one of the erstwhile jewels of the Signa real estate empire founded by Rene Benko, Bloomberg previously reported. Following the enforcement of a junior-ranking loan linked to the hotel, filings show that funds administered by King Street took control of shares in a Signa company that owned Hotel Bauer in May.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Spokespeople for King Street and Mohari declined to comment.<\/p>\n
The hotel had been undergoing a\u00a0major renovation<\/a>\u00a0before a cash crunch at Signa Prime Selection brought construction to a halt, putting any prospective buyer in the position of needing to pour in additional funds to complete the project. The property has also become a stark reminder of the legal complexities involved in the unwinding of Benko\u2019s now-insolvent sprawling real estate empire. \u00a0<\/p>\n The highly-coveted Bauer attracted bids from Arnault \u2014 founder of LVMH Mo\u00ebt Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE \u2013 as well as from sovereign wealth funds and international developers, some of the people said. Special situations fund Attestor together with Germany\u2019s Schoeller Group also submitted a rival offer, according to the people.\u00a0<\/p>\n Representatives for Schoeller and Attestor declined to comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Schoeller, founded by the German industrialist family of the same name, had\u00a0originally agreed<\/a>\u00a0to purchase a portfolio of Italian assets including the Hotel Bauer with administrators of Signa\u2019s flagship property unit. However, lenders\u2019 move to seize the property meant that the deal was unable to close, according to the insolvency report from Signa Prime, seen by Bloomberg News.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Signa Prime\u2019s insolvency administrator declined to comment, saying the insolvency process is private.<\/p>\n The Hotel Bauer is one of many luxury assets set to change hands as the insolvencies of Signa\u2019s major property units advance. Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund has made an offer to buy Signa Prime\u2019s stake in the Selfridges department store properties in the UK, while Thai conglomerate Central Group has taken over the KaDeWe in Berlin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRecommended Newsletter: <\/strong>CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. Subscribe Now<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n