* Pan-European property company M7 is mulling a £300 million IPO of its property portfolio in London, and has tapped Barclays and Akur Capital to review the potential offering. The float is expected to take place toward the end of the third quarter or in the early fourth quarter and would be one of the largest public listings in the U.K. in 2017.
* Funds managed by Blackstone Group LP sold the portfolio of Simply Hotels Group in France to Mata Capital, marking, what is believed to be, the country's largest portfolio deal so far for 2017. The portfolio comprises 3,286 rooms across 45 budget and economic hotels in Paris, Nice, Lyon and Marseille, with additional hotels in regional business and leisure hubs.
UK
* Assura Plc appointed Jayne Cottam to be the company's CFO. Cottam will join before the end of October and will replace Jonathan Murphy who will resume his CEO duties.
* Birmingham City Council is on the hunt for a partner for a mixed-use development on the 42-acre Birmingham Smithfield site, which has an investment value of more than £1 billion, Property Week reported. The project's masterplan includes a family and leisure hub and it will deliver over 3.2 million square feet of new floor space and 2,000 new homes, among other amenities.
* Quintain secured a £65 million loan from the U.K. government to unlock more than 7,600 new homes at its build-to-rent development in Wembley Park, London, PW reported. The loan is a part of the government's £3 billion Home Building Fund.
The developer submitted outline plans earlier in the week for the redevelopment of the Stadium Retail Park and the vacant Fountain Studios site in Wembley, which will create a 900,000-square-foot mixed-use scheme.
* A Qatari financial institution made its debut investment in the U.K. after Rosette Merchant Bank acquired a £50 million Marks & Spencer stores portfolio on its behalf, PW reported. The portfolio holds five stores, which are leased to Marks & Spencer until March 2027.
* Swansea University has partnered with developer Kier to construct the university's £30 million Singleton Park Campus project, subject to planning approval, Construction Enquirer reported. The project is expected to begin in the early summer of 2018, with completion anticipated by early spring 2020.
France and the Netherlands
* First Sponsor Group Ltd., has fulfilled all conditions and closed the €205.0 million acquisition of a Dutch hotel portfolio from QMH Ltd. The company's affiliate FSMC NL Property Group BV and Galaren Interholding BV jointly purchased Queens Bilderberg (Nederland) BV, a company that owns the Bilderberg portfolio of 16 hotels and one leased hotel across the Netherlands.
* Italian beverage company Gruppo Campari offloaded the central Paris headquarters of its Grand Marnier liqueur brand for €35.3 million, Property Investor Europe reported. The disposal was a part of the company's €85.8 million sale of its noncore asset.
* La Française Real Estate Managers' funds sold the seven-story, 15,700-square-meter head office of publisher Bayard in Paris to BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management, according to PIE. The Le Minéralis asset in the city's Montrouge commune was acquired for the SCPI Accimmo Pierre fund, which targets prime properties in major French cities, the report noted.
Germany
* Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate paid an undisclosed sum to acquire the third and the last building section of the East Side office development in Berlin's Mediaspree precinct on behalf of an institutional investor, PIE reported. The company bought the first two building sections of the 17,000-square-meter project in the summer of 2015.
Bulgaria
* A trio of banks, OTP Bank, Bulgaria's DSK Bank and Postbank, are lending €133 million to Arco Real Property Holdings, to refinance the Business Park Sofia development in the country's capital, PIE reported. The park, which is the largest in central and Eastern Europe, will span more than 210,000 square meters upon its completion, the report added.
Middle East
* Emaar Properties PJSC subsidiary Emaar Hospitality Group launched the new Vida Dubai Mall hotel project in Dubai, HotelierMiddleEast reported. It is an addition to the nine hotel projects already in the pipeline for the Vida Hotels and Resorts brand, which operates in the United Arab Emirates and in the international markets.
* Torch Tower in Dubai's Marina, one of the world's largest residential buildings, caught fire on the morning of Aug. 4, The (U.K.) Guardian reported. Civil defense officials have evacuated the 86-story building and no injuries were reported, the publication added.
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The Daily Dose Europe, Real Estate edition, is updated as of 6:30 a.m. London time. Some links require a subscription. Articles and links are correct as of publication time.
Anusha Iyer contributed to this report.