Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC will become the lead shareholder in Sani, Greece-based Mediterranean beach resort operator Sani/Ikos Group, in a deal that values the company at €2.3 billion ($2.3 billion).
GIC will partner with Sani/Ikos founders while buying over the stakes of a quintet of existing shareholders: Oaktree Capital Management, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Moonstone Investments, private equity firm Florac and Hermes GPE.
Details regarding the stakes held by each party to the deal aren't being disclosed.
The transaction is expected to close in the final quarter of 2022, according to a joint news release from GIC and Sani/Ikos Group.
Co-founders Andreas Andreadis and Mathieu Guillemin will continue to serve as CEOs and co-managing partners of Sani/Ikos, with co-founder Stavros Andreadis becoming honorary chairman of the group, the news release said.
The news release said the company's business has proven its resilience in the face of COVID-related challenges, with bookings in 2022 at Sani/Ikos resorts up 52% from the year before and up 57% compared with 2019.
Lee Kok Sun, GIC's chief investment officer, real estate, in the news release expressed confidence that GIC's investment in Sani/Ikos will "generate resilient returns" – a testament to the fund's "confidence in the Greek and wider European tourism sector over the long term.
GIC has $690 billion in assets according to Global SWF.
