Pulitzer Maipú, S.A. (Argentina)

Sponsor: Reginahotel S.A.
Business: Boutique hotel management and operation
Industry: Hostelry
Product: Joint venture loan
Total investment: 7.5 million euros
Resources: COFIDES / FONPYME

REGINAHOTEL, headquartered at Barcelona, is an (originally family-run) SME engaging in luxury urban hotel management and operation, preferably under ownership arrangements, in the world's foremost cities. Design is its trademark. At this time, the group manages 270 rooms in four hotels located in Barcelona and Paris. Its experience dates back to 1967, when it purchased Barcelona's Regina Hotel. It was not until 2000, however, with the opening of its Pulitzer Paris Hotel, that the present group was founded and began its international expansion.

Having identified a business opportunity and in line with its expansion policy, the Catalonian company decided to undertake an investment project in Buenos Aires in 2008, patterned on its successful Pulitzer Hotel in Barcelona. The venture in Argentina is REGINAHOTEL's first experience in a country outside the European Union.

The new hotel, which will be sited in Buenos Aires' Microcentro quarter, will have 13 storeys and 104 rooms. The project calls for a total investment of nearly 8 million euros and is expected to create 40 new jobs. COFIDES has granted PULITZER MAIPÚ, the investee company whose main shareholder is REGINAHOTEL, a joint venture loan for 2 million euros to finance part of the cost of building and commissioning the hotel. The loan will be drawn from both COFIDES (25%) and FONPYME (75%) resources.

By financing foreign investment projects undertaken by SMEs such as REGINAHOTEL, COFIDES continues to further the internationalisation of Spain's business fabric in a market such as Argentina's, where the number of Spanish companies, particularly SMEs, is growing steadily. With a gross Spanish investment volume of 164 million euros, in 2010 Argentina continued to be one of the primary targets for the country's direct investment. COFIDES, in turn, has approved 35 projects located in Argentina since its inception.