U.K. tour operator Thomas Cook Group PLC on March 7 said it launched its hotel fund to boost the growth of its own-brand hotel portfolio.
The fund, a joint venture with Swiss hotel developer LMEY Investments, will have hotel assets worth £150 million.
The company said the new fund, named Thomas Cook Hotel Investments, will focus on acquiring properties in "key destination markets."
The partnership will utilize Thomas Cook's distribution network and hotel management and LMEY's experience in hotel refurbishment.
The hotel fund, a 50/50 joint venture, will consist of five seed hotel assets, including two Thomas Cook hotels in Rhodes and Crete in Greece, while LMEY will contribute three hotels, two of which are in Spain. The third contribution will be the fund's first joint project using the Casa Cook brand. It will be an existing hotel remodeled to have 200 rooms, and it will open in Ibiza in the summer of 2019.
