Colony Capital Buying Starwood's CIGA Portfolio for $310M

SARDINIA, ITALY-Colony Capital LLC of Los Angeles has signed a binding agreement to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ CIGA Portfolio of hotels and resorts in Sardinia, Italy for more than $310 million (290 million Euros).

The portfolio consists of 382 rooms in four high-end hotels, a marina, a golf course and a 51% interest in 6,000 undeveloped acres in Costa Smeralda, a luxury resort destination on the northeastern coast of the Italian island of Sardinia. Colony Capital is acquiring the portfolio on behalf of institutional investors. The sale is expected to close during the second quarter of this year.

The portfolio has been on the market for two years now and several would-be buyers have reportedly tried to acquire the portfolio and failed. Jonathan Grunzweig, a principal with Colony Capital tells GlobeSt.com his company’s approach was to partner with Starwood, which maintains a non-controlling interest in the undeveloped land and will continue to manage the hotel properties.

Included in the transaction are Hotel Cala di Volpe, Hotel Pitrizza, Hotel Romazzino, and Cervo Hotel & Conference Center; the Porto Cervo Marina and Shipyard; the Pevero Golf Club; the undeveloped oceanfront land, and; additional office, retail and storage facilities. The hotels have been featured in the pages of Vogue, Bazaar and Town and Country. The golf course has been recognized as one of the top 100 courses in the world. The marina is host to the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.

Starwood Chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht says the transaction not only harvests some of the value of a portion of the company’s European asset base, but also retains the potential for significant upside. “We believe Colony’s real estate expertise can maximize the potential of the land assets materially increasing our proceeds over time,” says Sternlicht.

The sale agreement comes less than a month after Starwood announced it had signed an agreement to sell the Hotel Principe di Savoia to the London-based Dorchester Group LTD for approximately $300 million (275 million Euros).