International real-estate investor and hotel manager Highgate is establishing a presence in Greece, marking a new entry by a major global hospitality player into a market that has attracted growing amounts of international capital in recent years.
The group is entering the country through Zafolia BidCo S.A., a newly incorporated Greek company with initial share capital of €9.9 million ($11.6 million). The capital has been paid entirely in cash and is divided into 9.9 million registered ordinary shares with a nominal value of €1 each.
Highgate manages more than $15 billion in assets and has a global portfolio of more than 400 hotels across North America, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. With roughly three decades of experience in hospitality, the company operates across multiple stages of the real-estate investment cycle, including development, recapitalizations and asset sales.
The group has built its business around a mix of lifestyle hospitality concepts, internationally branded properties and independent hotels and resorts. It also works with large real-estate owners and some of the world's major hotel groups, giving it a broad platform spanning both investment and hotel operations.
The establishment of Zafolia BidCo provides Highgate with a corporate vehicle for its expansion into Greece at a time when the country's tourism sector and hotel market continue to draw the attention of international investors.
According to the company's articles of association, Zafolia BidCo's direct and sole shareholder is Zafolia HoldCo, which is based in Paris. William Graham Rumble was appointed chairman of the initial board, which also includes Erna Kritikou and Evangelia Tsilou.
Nicholas Mellis, Highgate's vice president of acquisitions, played a central role in preparing the group's entry into Greece. Over the past two years, Mr. Mellis has worked on identifying and evaluating potential investment opportunities in the country, laying the groundwork for Highgate's move into the market.
The creation of the Greek entity signals that those efforts are moving into a more concrete phase. While the incorporation documents don't in themselves identify the assets Highgate intends to pursue, the size of the initial capitalization points to preparations for an active investment presence rather than a purely representative office.
