Goldman Is Near 2 Billion Euro Deal for PAI's B&B Hotels

(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is close to a deal to buy the B&B Hotels chain from PAI Partners for about 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion), people familiar with the matter said.

At that price, the Paris-based private equity firm will make a return of three times its initial investment, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Goldman Sachs is doing the deal through its merchant banking division, which includes private equity deals, the people said. No final decisions have been made and PAI may still decide against a deal, they said.

Representatives for PAI and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Deals for European hotels and motels have jumped 52 percent in the last 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Private equity firms have become some of the biggest buyers of the assets in the last decade, accounting for more than a third of deals last year, according to data from real estate broker Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

PAI bought the French hotelier in 2016 in a deal that valued B&B at about 790 million euros, expanding the firm into new markets. The chain was founded in 1990 and has more than 479 hotels in markets including Europe, Brazil and Morocco, according to its website.

In April, PAI made a binding offer for Elior Group’s catering unit valued at about 1.5 billion euros.

--With assistance from Jack Sidders and Gillian Tan.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Syed in London at ssyed35@bloomberg.net;Ruth David in London at rdavid9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dinesh Nair at dnair5@bloomberg.net, Amy Thomson

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