Blackstone Acquires The Marriott Hotel in Munich

London/Munich – Blackstone Real Estate Advisors today announced the purchase of the Marriott Hotel in Munich from a private Japanese investor. The 348-room, first-class hotel is located in Schwabing, to the north of Munich and in close proximity to head-quarters offices of numerous German and multinational companies. The Hotel is also close to the new multi-function stadium currently under construction, and on the way to the Munich Airport. The hotel will continue to be managed by Marriott International. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Over the last several years Schwabing has become one of the most desirable residential and office submarkets of Munich. Among the companies currently headquartered in the area are Allianz, Swiss Re, Munich Re, Siemens and MAN. The new 60,000-seat multi-functional arena is scheduled for completion in 2005 and will be one of the sites of the Soccer World Cup 2006. Facilities at the Munich Marriott include two restaurants, 13 meeting/function rooms, a large fitness center with outside memberships, and ample underground parking.

This transaction, Blackstone’s second hotel acquisition in Germany, was made in a joint venture with Event Hotels, a Cologne, Germany-based hotel owner/operator with a portfolio of 15 properties located throughout Germany. Earlier this year, Blackstone, together with Event, acquired the Deutsch-Japanisches Center, a mixed-use complex in Düsseldorf, which includes the 301-room Nikko hotel.

“We are delighted to be making this acquisition in Munich, one of the most vital and attractive cities and hotel markets in Germany. We believe that due to its location and asset quality, as well as the favorable limited new supply situation, the Munich Marriott is well positioned to capture a disproportionate share of the expected hotel market recovery”, said Chad Pike, Senior Managing Director and Head of Blackstone’s European Real Estate Group. He added: “Our acquisition of the Marriott Munich shows that German hotel and commercial property markets remain very high on our investment target list.”

The Blackstone Group, a leading global investment and advisory firm with offices in New York, London and Hamburg, was founded in 1985. Blackstone’s Real Estate Group, operating out of New York and London, has raised five funds representing $5.6 billion in total equity. The group has made well over 100 separate investments in hotels, offices and other commercial properties with a total transaction value of approximately $16 billion. In addition to its real estate business, Blackstone has raised over $14 billion for private equity investing, including Blackstone Capital Partners IV, the largest institutional private equity fund ever raised at $6.45 billion.