Pro-invest Group recipient of Aareal Bank’s largest green hotel portfolio loan in Asia-Pacific

EQS-Media / 13.03.2024 / 10:00 CET/CEST Pro-invest Group recipient of Aareal Bank’s largest green hotel portfolio loan in Asia-Pacific Sydney, Australia and Wiesbaden, Germany, 13 March 2024: Pro-invest Group, a leading private equity real estate asset manager and investment firm and Aareal Bank AG, a leading international property specialist in the global real estate banking market, today announced a significant milestone in their commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Aareal Bank announced the first ever green loan governed by its Green Finance Framework in July 2021 with the financing of Pro-invest's Holiday Inn Express Macquarie Park in Sydney. Approximately two and a half years later, following a strategic refinancing initiative of Pro-invest Group’s Fund I portfolio, a total of five hotels within this funding forms Aareal Bank’s largest green loan for a hotel portfolio in the APAC region. Aareal Bank acted as the arranger and sole lender in the financing of this hotel portfolio.

This strategic financing initiative has enabled the refinancing of key properties in Pro-invest’s hotel portfolio, including Holiday Inn Express Brisbane Central, Holiday Inn Express Adelaide City Centre, Holiday Inn Express Melbourne Southbank, Holiday Inn Express Newcastle, and Holiday Inn Express Sydney Airport.

These properties have met the stringent criteria of Aareal Bank’s Green Finance Framework 2023, with all five hotels achieving or bettering the minimum required 4.5-star rating under the National Australian Built Environmental Rating System (NABERS) Energy rating scheme - exceeding the Bank’s previous threshold of 4.0 stars. This achievement underscores both companies’ work to reducing the environmental impact of the hospitality industry, while delivering returns to investors.

Thomas Adaemmer, Managing Director and Head of Asia-Pacific at Aareal Bank, remarked, “By prioritising green financing, we aim to encourage a shift towards more sustainable practices across industries. In this context, our partnership with Pro-invest Group stands out as a prime example of what can be achieved when financial institutions and industry leaders work together. Pro-invest's dedication to environmental excellence not only meets our stringent criteria but also sets a benchmark for the hospitality sector.”