Europa Fund II, the private real estate investment fund managed by Europa Capital, and Vienna-listed Warimpex Finanz- und Beteiligungs have sold the 435-room Jan III Sobieski hotel in Warsaw and an adjacent 6,000 m2 office building to the Norwegian hotel investor and asset manager, Wenaasgruppen. The sale price was in excess of EUR 50 mln.

'This sale takes place after the successful fulfillment of a five-year business plan,' commented Simon Hooper, partner at Europa Capital. 'We have accomplished a substantial renovation of the hotel and, together with Warimpex and Vienna International Hotel Management, significantly improved the hotel performance.'

The sale is Warimpex' second project in joint venture with Europa Capital.

According to Franz Jurkowitsch, president of Warimpex, the transaction is a sign of the re-emerging strength of the hotel investment market in the CEE region. 'The sale is perfectly in line with the strategy of Warimpex to regularly sell assets in order to generate equity for our developments and new projects,' he added.

The four-star Jan III Sobieski Hotel is one of the first luxury hotels to be constructed in Warsaw after 1989. The hotel was opened in July 1992 and acquired by the sellers in 2006.