Bank of Cyprus sells its stake in Marriott hotel for EUR 95 million

Newsroom 20/08/2014 | 15:43

Bank of Cyprus on Wednesday said it has signed an agreement to sell its assets related to Societatea Companiilor Hoteliere Grand SRL, a company incorporated in Romania and owner of the JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel, to Austria’s Strabag SE, writes Mediafax.

Bank of Cyprus will get EUR 95 million for the following assets:
– a credit line that the Romanian branch of Bank of Cyprus gave to Societatea Companiilor Hoteliere Grand
– 1,47 million shares representing 35.3 percent of share capital
– loan agreement between a bank employee and the company.

The biggest exposure for Bank of Cyprus Romania is the EUR 110 million loan for Grand SRL which appears to be part of the transaction. The loan was extended in 2012 for a period of 5 years.

Marriott hotel was valued at EUR 150 million in 2006, but it’s difficult to say what its value is today.

“The sale assures exit from a significant specialised assets while at the same time improving equity by EUR 95 million”, according to the Bank of Cyprus press release.

This year Bank of Cyprus also sold the 10 percent stake in Banca Transilvania it had bought in 2009 for EUR 58 million.

The Bank of Cyprus group currently operates through a total of 588 branches, of which 221 are in Russia, 164 in Greece, 143 in Cyprus, 34 in Ukraine, 10 in Australia, 11 in Romania, four in the United Kingdom and one in the Channel Islands.