Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek advises Auctus Fund on the acquisition of GS Star hotel group
March, 2018 - Duesseldorf, Germany
A team led by M&A Partner Boris Dürr advised the private equity funds advised by AUCTUS Capital Partners AG on the takeover of GS Star group. As part of the transaction, the GS Star GmbH's two former general managers, Andreas Erben and Heiko Grote, also acquired a stake in the newly established Gorgeous Smiling Hotels Holding GmbH and will continue to manage the group.
GS Star group operates hotels in Germany, Austria, and The Netherlands under the Hampton by Hilton, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, and Super 8 brands as well as under its own label ANA Art Hotels. In addition, Gorgeous Smiling GmbH, a subsidiary of GS Star GmbH, is also operating as a service provider in marketing, yield management, and purchasing services for third-party hotels not owned by GS Star group. It offers solutions for hotel operation and for hotel properties. GS Star group's portfolio comprises a total of 50 hotels.
AUCTUS is one of the leading private equity investors in the German-speaking countries. It focuses on the implementation of industry concepts in consolidation markets by means of a buy & build strategy. Its holding in GS Star group is also based on such a concept. GS Star group plans to consolidate the hotel operator market together with AUCTUS in the future. It is intended to take over additional hotels and hotel operators and to expand the company's own hotel real estate division, including into Italy and Spain.
Unitranche financing, on which Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek also advised, was provided by IDInvest Partners.
Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek's Munich-based Partner Boris Dürr was lead advisor on the transaction. The team led by Boris Dürr regularly advises the funds advised by AUCTUS on transactions.
Counsel to AUCTUS (Transaction and Finance)
Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek:
Boris Dürr (Lead, M&A),
Daniela Szczesny (Corporate/M&A),
Dr. Arnold Büssemaker (Finance)
Christian Schild, LL.M., (Corporate/M&A),
Ricarda Marschall, LL.M. (Corporate/M&A)
Steffen Wilberg (Real Estate)
Dr. Philip Wenninger (Employment), all Munich
Astrid Luedtke (Trademark), Düsseldorf
