The Mallorca-based Globalia group are reported to have sold their hotel division - Be Live - to the Swiss fund Stoneweg and the American Hyatt group.
The digital newspaper El Confidencial says that the transaction was sealed on Tuesday. It will in fact be Stoneweg who make the acquisition, while Hyatt will manage the establishments. Be Live operate 29 hotels, ten in Spain, but only own twelve of them. One is the Palace de Muro in Playa de Muro. When it opened in 2002, this was the first five-star hotel in the main bay of Alcudia resorts (Puerto Alcudia, Playa de Muro, Can Picafort). It is said that extensive renovation is planned for the Palace de Muro and the four-star Be Live Experience La Niña in Tenerife.
This is the latest asset to be sold by Globalia. In October last year, the 49.5% of the Avoris travel agency that wasn't already controlled by another Mallorcan group, Barceló, was sold for a euro, a reflection of issues that Globalia have been experiencing. The purchase of Be Live has been on the cards for some while. At one time, Barceló and BlueBay Hotels & Resorts (who operate the Bellevue complex in Puerto Alcudia, among others) were expressing interest in either acquisition or merger.
Globalia also own Air Europa. The IAG group (Iberia, British Airways and others) recently made a formal announcement of its intention to acquire Air Europa.