Partners L+R Hotels, and Midstar AB, have jointly launched a new hotel investment platform, to target opportunities across the Nordics.
Named LR Midstar Holdings, the new venture has started life with an initial equity backing of EUR600 million. The funds will be spent acquiring hotels across Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland that could benefit from enhancement or an upgrade and rebranding.
Building a Nordic hotel portfolio
In addition to the initial backing, the fund is expected to take advantage of local debt financing, and other sources of capital, as it progresses. The suggestion is that, over time, a portfolio worth more than EUR1 billion could be assembled.
“We have long admired the impressive track record of the Midstar team in executing portfolio aggregation and value-add strategies within the Nordic hotel sector,” commented Cody Bradshaw, global CEO of L+R Hotels. “Based on L+R’s own extensive history of successful real estate investments across this region; we see a compelling opportunity for our two firms to join forces in deploying significant capital into accretive acquisition opportunities while leveraging our collective in-house capabilities to build a market-leading platform and deliver compelling risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders.”
The pair believe the Scandinavian region has strong fundamental attractions for investment. The local economies are resilient and stable, while property markets are transparent, and tourism growth looks set to be sustainable in the medium term.
The L+R business has previous experience in the region, having invested in the Dividum hotel portfolio in Finland, and in the Berns Hotel in Stockholm.
L+R is an established hotel sector player, with a portfolio currently of 115 hotels across Europe, the US and Caribbean. In June, the company announced plans to streamline its operations, to enhance the profile of its complementary businesses. To date, its hotels have operated under four businesses: Iconic Luxury Hotels, Atlas Hotels, City Hotels and Destination Hotels.
The Atlas business is Europe’s largest franchisee of Holiday Inn Express hotels in Europe, and has a total of 60 hotels. The company also operates a number of UK hotels under the Hampton by Hilton brand.
Partners with strong hotel credentials
In contrast, other parts of the L+R portfolio operate some distinctive, luxury hotels such as Clivedon House and Chewton Glen in the UK, the Excelsior Venice Lido and in Palm Beach, the Palm House Hotel. There are also brand relationships with the major hotel groups including Accor, Marriott, Melia and Nobu.
Midstar AB is a long term investor in the hotel sector, across the Nordic countries. Over recent years, it built the Midstar Fastigheter AB platform, which grew to hold 28 hotels with more than 4,700 rooms across the region. This portfolio was sold in early 2025, in one of the biggest deals ever in the Nordics, being acquired by long term investor CapMan Hotels.
