Goldman Is in Talks to Buy $2.2 Billion B&B Budget Hotel Chain from PAI  

(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is in exclusive discussions to buy the B&B Hotels chain from European buyout firm PAI Partners.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year, PAI Partners said in a statement on Monday, without providing any financial details. Goldman Sachs is doing the deal through its merchant banking division, according to the statement.

The announcement confirms a Bloomberg News report last week that the Paris-based private equity firm was close to a deal to sell the hotel chain for about 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) to the lender, citing people familiar with the matter. 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 has more than 486 hotels and reported revenue last year of 580 million euros, according to the statement. It was founded in 1990 and operates in markets including Europe, Brazil and Morocco, according to its website.

Goldman’s merchant bank is one of the biggest in the world, and the firm had $20 billion in private equity investments at the end of 2018.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Syed in London at ssyed35@bloomberg.net

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

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