MADRID — RIU Group has announced a new acquisition deal with TUI.

The Group will acquire from TUI its 49% stake in 19 hotel properties that are operated under the RIU Hotels & Resorts brands and located in four different continents, plus two more hotels that are currently under development. With this deal, Riu, which already holds 51% stake of these properties, will now become their sole owner.  

The transaction was approved on May 27 by TUI’s Supervisory Board and is valued at 670 million euros.

According to both companies, loyalty was paramount in their negotiations, with each side stating a firm desire to maintain their strategic and commercial relationship over the long term. In fact, TUI is maintaining its 50% stake in RIUSA II S.A., the company that was founded by the two companies in 1993 and now manages the RIU brand hotels.

“This operation comes in the context of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has profoundly affected the tourism industry,” said RIU Group in an official statement. “For its part, with this extraordinary indebtedness effort, RIU continues supporting its strategic partner over the long term.

“Furthermore, after confirmation that the ownership model has turned out to be an advantage in facing this crisis, taking 100% control of the ownership of these hotels provides additional agility in confronting possible paradigm changes in the near future.”