A group of European banks has refinanced four iconic luxury Italian hotels on behalf of Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. The properties include Hotel Cipriani in Venice, Hotel Caruso in Ravello, Villa San Michele in Florence and Hotel Splendido & Splendido Mare in Portofino.

Crédit Agricole CIB and Barclays Corporate acted as joint mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners for the €150 million financing. They were joined by Aareal Bank, BNL BNP PARIBAS Group and IntesaSanpaolo who acted as arrangers. Crédit Agricole CIB acted also as Facility Agent.

On behalf of Crédit Agricole CIB, Neal Ledger, Head of the UK Real Estate Finance team said: “The lenders are all delighted to have been chosen by Orient-Express to assist with the refinancing of these prestigious hotels. We look forward to working with Orient-Express to further expand our successful relationship together taking advantage of our international network.” while Nicola Meles, Head of the Italian Real Estate Finance team for Crédit Agricole CIB, added “The outstanding quality of this portfolio of hotels has been confirmed by the successful involvement of leading Italian and International financial institutions”. 

Tim Helliwell, Head of Hotel Finance, Barclays Corporate, said, “We are very proud to be working alongside a brand as iconic as Orient-Express Hotels. This is an excellent example of two global corporate banks working alongside a multinational corporate to structure a syndicated loan in one of their home markets, and it should provide an excellent platform for management to achieve their growth ambitions in Italy.”

Martin O’Grady, Chief Financial Officer, Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. said: “This was a key refinancing for Orient-Express and we were pleased to assemble a club of commercially minded banks who completely understood the high quality and value of the underlying portfolio.”