Hotel deal to transform Grollo family business
Grollo Group CEO Lorenz Grollo is now undertaking an exclusive due diligence on a $500 million portfolio of hotels which includes the Intercontinental Hotel in Melbourne.
If the deal with Eureka Funds Management goes through, it will transform the Grollo family business, which began with Lorenz’s grandfather Luigi Grollo in 1948, away from construction to investment and development.
The Intercontinental stands next to the Rialto Towers on Collins Street. Built and developed by Mr Grollo’s father Rino and uncle Bruno, the Rialto is one of Melbourne’s most recognised buildings. The Grollo family owns half the Rialto in a joint venture with the Kuwaiti-owned St Martins Property Group based in London.
Securing the Intercontinental would facilitate mixed use development across the Rialto forecourt.
In a statement to the Australian Financial Review, Mr Grollo said: “The hotel was originally developed by my family and we completed the $45 million Intercontinental refurbishment for the current owner in 2008.”
More importantly, negotiations over the Intercontinental could lead to a larger deal over Eureka’s entire portfolio which it is now managing for a super fund investor.
That includes the 385-room Crowne Plaza hotel nearby on Spencer Street, standing on the banks of the Yarra River overlooking Crown Casino, the 210-room Crowne Plaza at Coogee Beach in Sydney, the 288-room Holiday Inn in Potts Point and the 300-room Crowne Plaza in Canberra.
Mt Grollo would not talk about the larger deal and the AFR could not get a comment from Eureka.
Source: Business First Magazine, Leon Gettler, 17th August 2015
Originally published as: Hotel deal to transform Grollo family business
