TOPHOTELPROJECTS: Barceló's bid for rival NH could create Spanish hotel giant

ROTENBURG AN DER WÜMME, GERMANY - Spanish firm Barceló has emerged as a potential buyer for its long-time rival the Madrid-based NH Hotel Group, and if the deal is successful, it would mean the creation of a massive combined business that wields a total of 478 properties featuring roughly 89,000 rooms. According to reports, Barceló's offer for NH Hotels is said to be of a value of right around $3 billion.

Experts say that an offer for NH Hotels makes sense, as the company has been going through a tumultuous period marked by regular in-fighting among its shareholders in recent years. In 2013, in fact, Chinese conglomerate HNA group bought a share of the company, but so far its involvement has been largely resisted.

Over the past year, the NH chief executive and several of its board members who were close to HNA were ultimately ousted as part of the Chinese company making a big for Carlson Hotels, which was then viewed as a potential conflict of interest given that Carlson holds a stake in the Rezidor Hotel Group.

Barceló by contrast is a family owned company that has admitted in a statement that it is "expressing interest" in combining with rival NH Hotel. Barceló, however, has so far been careful to note that these discussion and talks are at this point preliminary. NH Hotel operates close to 400 hotels, most of which are located in Latin America and Europe.

This is all significant for the hospitality industry because right now the tourism sector in Spain is booming with few signs of a slow down on the horizon. The country has recorded a record 36 million foreign visitors in a six month period, which represents a rise of more than 11 percent over the same period at this time last year. This is also the fourth consecutive year during which Spain has seen an increase of tourists coming through its borders.

Experts say that Spain is becoming the beneficiary of ongoing security concerns in previously competitive Mediterranean holiday locales such as Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey, which have motivated millions of travelers to instead take their business to Spain.

Current NH Hotel Group projects
NHOW - London 
Located in a 5.5-acre, mixed-use development called 250 City Road, the eight-story hotel will feature a restaurant, bar, gym and meeting rooms.

NH Hotel Essen 
The former DGB house is now being demolished and a hotel will be erected.

nhow Amsterdam RAI 
The four-star nhow Amsterdam RAI will be the largest hotel in the Benelux.