Singapore's GIC buys 35% stake in European hotel operator HIP

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC has invested in a 35% stake in Hotel Investment Partners (HIP), an owner of resort hotels in Southern Europe, according to a statement by HIP on Tuesday night.

Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.

Founded in 2015, HIP was acquired by funds managed by Blackstone in 2017. Blackstone will continue to be the majority shareholder in HIP with a 65% stake, according to the statement.

"The partners' cumulative size, scale and capital will bolster our ability to continue the transformation of the hotel landscape in Southern Europe," Alejandro Hernández-Puértolas, founder and CEO of HIP, said in the statement.

HIP has pursued an acquisition and repositioning strategy since 2017 and has invested over 600 million euros ($634.14 million) into well-located but under-invested hotels, it said.

HIP has 72 hotels across Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal, employing about 10,000 people, and counts global hotel brands including Ritz-Carlton and Hilton as partners, according to the statement.

Eastdil Secured and Morgan Stanley acted as advisors to HIP, it said.

($1 = 0.9462 euros)

(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; editing by Eileen Soreng)