YOTEL announced that a fund affiliated with Starwood Capital Group ("Starwood"), a leading global private investment firm, has committed to making a strategic investment of $250 million in YOTEL, including acquiring a 30 percent stake in the company and investing in real estate acquisitions for new build, hotel conversion and adaptive reuse properties as YOTEL expands its international scale.
Starwood's investment in and ongoing partnership with YOTEL will further enable YOTEL's rapid worldwide expansion, with a specific focus on Europe, North America and Asia. It also will help YOTEL strengthen its brand identity, expand geographically and enhance YOTEL's innovative guest experience. Starwood have already secured city centre sites in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Amsterdam which are expected to open as YOTELs by 2019.
The partnership with Starwood Capital Group comes as YOTEL celebrates its 10th anniversary, a year of significant growth that includes the openings of YOTEL Boston and YOTEL San Francisco in North America and YOTEL Singapore, which will open on 1 October and will be YOTEL's first hotel in Asia.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised Starwood Capital Group on the transaction.