GIC Buys Stake In $2.25B CitizenM Hotel Chain Ahead Of Big Expansion

Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC has bought a 25% stake in “affordable luxury” hotel chain citizenM in a deal that values the company at €2B ($2.25B).

GIC will now be an owner alongside founding shareholders KRC Capital, the investment vehicle of entrepreneur Rattan Chadha, and giant Dutch pension fund APG. The trio have committed €750M ($844M) to fund an expansion of citizenM.

The company currently has 15 operational hotels in eight countries and a development pipeline of 25 more sites across the world. It currently has three hotels in London and two in New York.

It said the €750M would fund that development pipeline and more. It is planning to open 20 new hotels in the U.S. in the next five years, plus more sites in Europe and Asia Pacific.

In North America, citizenM is looking for projects in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Austin, Silicon Valley, Toronto, Denver and Nashville.

In Europe the key target cities are London, Paris, Milan, Rome, Dublin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Zurich, Geneva and Barcelona.

CitizenM is one of a new breed of hotels where rooms are small but very well designed, and the hotels have large, funky common areas. Guests check in on tablets.

Affordability is a relative concept, but as an example, prices for a two-person room at its Bowery, New York, hotel in April range from $170 a night to $323 a night. In London, prices at its Shoreditch hotel range from £80 a night to £206 a night in April.

For GIC, the deal continues its strategy of investing in alternative real estate sectors like hotels, student accommodation and senior living.

“With the increase in committed capital, citizenM can further accelerate its growth strategy,” APG Head of Property Robert-Jan Foorste said.