COFIDES has granted a joint venture loan for 2 million euros to PULITZER MAIPÚ, the investee company whose main shareholder is REGINAHOTEL, to finance part of the cost of building and commissioning a new hotel in Argentina. The loan will be drawn from both COFIDES (25 %) and FONPYME (75 %) resources.

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 8 million euros and is expected to create 40 new jobs.

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.

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.