Cogress launches new hotel finance product
COGRESS has embarked on an £80m partnership with Latin-American hospitality start-up Selina, enabling its investors to fund the roll-out of hotels across the UK and Portugal.
The property investment firm said on Wednesday that the first opportunity is set to go live this week – a portfolio of loan notes offering target returns of up to 12 per cent per annum over the next three years. The proceeds will be used to fund six hotels, which include Selina’s recently-launched ‘Secret Garden’ site in Lisbon and a new venue in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
Cogress said it plans to make the investments eligible within its Innovative Finance ISA wrapper shortly.
While this week’s opportunity is open to everyday investors, it has been designed especially for Cogress’s wealthier investor community, with a minimum investment level of £10,000 and higher target returns than are likely to be offered in future portfolio launches.
Cogress said it will be releasing subsequent portfolios, as well as individual hotel opportunities, with a lower minimum investment amount in order to attract a wider array of investors.
“The alternative finance industry has succeeded and grown because it gives investors entry to opportunities they would otherwise have struggled to access,” said Cogress chief executive Tal Orly (pictured).
“This new deal with Selina is exclusive to Cogress investors, and we’re delighted to be able to offer our community the chance to engage with this global start-up, get excited when they see reviews in press, visit the hotels in their portfolio and know that their investment is as vital to Selina’s growth as the venture capitalists and big names already associated with it.”
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Selina is a fashionable hotel chain, offering coworking spaces alongside accommodation. It has attracted investors from around the world, helping it to achieve a post-money valuation of $850m (£665m).
Cogress launched in 2014 and provides a mix of debt and equity property development investment opportunities to high-net-worth and self-certified sophisticated investors.
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