Singapore’s GIC To Buy Stake In Sani/Ikos In Deal Valuing Luxury Resort Group At $2.3 Billion

Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC has agreed to buy a stake in Greece’s Sani/Ikos Group (SIG) in a deal that values the operator of luxury resorts in the Mediterranean at €2.3 billion ($2.3 billion), making it the biggest European hotel transaction since the Covid-19 pandemic upended the travel and tourism industry.

The transaction—which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter subject to customary regulatory approvals—will make GIC the leading shareholder in SIG, replacing Oaktree, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Moonstone, Florac and Hermes GPE. SIG founders—Stavros Andreadis, Andreas Andreadis and Mathieu Guillemin—who transformed the company from the family-owned Sani Resort in Greece into one of the fastest-growing resort operators in the Mediterranean will remain key shareholders.

“The group’s assets are well-located and the team is known for providing excellent hospitality experiences,” Lee Kok Sun, chief investment officer of real estate at GIC, said in a statement. “We believe this investment will generate resilient returns and is testament to our confidence in the Greek and wider European tourism sector over the long term.”

SIG said its partnership with GIC will strengthen the company as it invests €900 million to further expand the business over a five-year period. The company owns and operates 10 resorts with more than 2,750 rooms across Greece and Spain. It has secured four new projects, which promise to bring an additional 1,578 rooms, suites and villas when the properties become operational between 2023 and 2025.

GIC is investing in SIG amid a revival of tourism around the world as governments are increasingly easing travel restrictions imposed at the height of the pandemic. Bookings at SIG resorts this year have increased 52% from last year and are up 57% since 2019, the company said.

The investment in SIG comes a week after GIC announced that it has agreed to acquire Store Capital Corp., a real estate investment trust in the U.S. that counts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway as an investor, in an all-cash deal valued at about $14 billion. GIC is stepping up investments in real assets as the firm seeks better returns amid a global equity market downturn.