Azora and Ioannou Family to build Greek hospitality platform

European hospitality investor Azora and the Ioannou Family have formed a joint venture to build a significant hospitality platform in Greece. 

Athenaeum Intercontinental

Azora has acquired a 50.1% stake in Donkey Hotels, with the Ioannou Family retaining the remaining 49.9% and Christos Ioannou continuing as chairman. 
The partnership will focus on owning, operating, and expanding Donkey Hotels, leveraging strong Greek tourism trends and investor interest. 
Donkey Hotels currently owns five luxury properties with a total of 834 rooms, including four in Athens (Athenaeum Intercontinental Hotel, New Hotel, Semiramis Hotel and Periscope Hotel) and one in Santorini (Nous Santorini Hotel).
Both parties will invest additional capital to upgrade existing assets, particularly the Athenaeum Intercontinental Hotel, and pursue acquisitions. 
Christos Ioannou, chairman of Donkey Hotels, commented: “This is an important moment for Donkey Hotels, as we evolve from a fully family-owned business into an institutional platform with Azora as our strategic partner. I want to thank our exiting shareholders for their trust and our entire team for their commitment and hard work. Together, we are opening a new chapter with strong foundations and even stronger prospects.”
Javier Arús and Gonzalo García-Lago, Azora’s Hospitality Partners, added: “Having entered the Greek hospitality market with the acquisition of the Sheraton Rhodes in 2022 and with Greece’s tourism market going from strength-to-strength, having seen almost 10% growth in international arrivals to over 36 million last year, we have been looking for the right opportunity to increase our presence in this important region. Our investment in Donkey Hotels provides us with that opportunity. Not only does it allow us to acquire a stake in a high-quality portfolio of established hotels that are performing well, it also sees us establish a partnership with a like-minded local partner with a shared ambition to establish and grow a market-leading hotels platform in one of Europe’s most important hospitality markets.”
Axia Ventures Group served as the exclusive financial advisor, and Kyriakidis Georgopoulos Law Firm as legal advisor to Donkey Hotels and the Ioannou Family for this transaction. Azora received advice from Xenios Investment Partners, Watson Farley & Williams, Uria Menendez, EY, and Arcadis.