Radisson Blu hotel in Sofia changes owners
British property developer Henry Gwyn-Jones has sold his stake in the company that owns and operates the Radisson Blu hotel in Sofia, reports in Bulgarian media claim.
Gwyn-Jones sold Interhotel Grand Hotel Sofia to Spas Roussev, one-time adviser to former prime miniser Simeon Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, weekly Capital and daily Presa said.
Radisson Blu had reportedly been on the selling block for several years. Roussev himself denied being the new owner, saying that the hotel was owned by Greek financial group EFG Eurobank.
As of June 20, Roussev and his son Evgeni were appointed to the hotel’s board of directors at the general shareholders meeting, but Roussev said he was only representing a group of foreign private investors, Capital said.
According to the newspaper, which cited sources familiar with the transaction, the hotel was sold for about 10 million euro, with the new owner also taking on the hotel’s existing debts. Interhotel’s annual reports from years past showed that the company owed between 65 million leva and 70 million leva, but it was difficult to tell the exact figure at the time of the sale, Capital said.
Radisson Blu had maintained a high occupancy rate, said to be about 70 per cent, despite the economic downturn, but it is also one of the smaller five-star hotels in the Bulgarian capital, Capital said.
(Photo: korom/flickr.com)
