Shortly before the opening of the first Italian Six Senses, scheduled for Rome on 16 March, news has come in of a further Italian development project for the IHG brand.
Banco Bpm and Gruppo Statuto have recently finalized a structured finance agreement for €495 million, with the support of Gwm Group and Arecneprix, the asset management and structuring company of the illimity group. The project involves the Palazzo del Toro in Piazza San Babila and the opening of a 5-star luxury hotel in Via Brera 19, also in Milan, to be managed by Six Senses.
The Statuto group will finance the development of the Brera property through the sale of the Piazza San Babila asset which was acquired in 2005 for €230 million by Pirelli Re and Morgan Stanley. Arecneprix, which acted as arranger for the transaction, was also entrusted with the asset management and special servicing of the securitization, while Finint acted as the sponsoring bank for the new finance and is master servicer of the securitization vehicle.
The Statuto group already owns some of Italy's most prestigious hotels, including the Four Seasons, the Mandarin and the Rosewood Milan, as well as the San Domenico Palace in Taormina, the Ginestre in Arzachena, the Danieli in Venice and two more hotels under construction: the Edition Rome and the W Hotel Milan.
Six Senses is preparing to inaugurate a third Italian property in Umbria, a golf resort in Antognolla, spread over 600 hectares, inside a 12th century castle owned by the Russian tycoon Andrey Yakunin which has been under construction already for two and a half years and estimed to be a €150 million investment with 71 rooms, 79 residences and a spa.
