A St Paul’s Bay hotel in Malta is to be sold to local language school, European School of English (ESE), in a deal worth €14m, according to the Times of Malta. The acquisition is the first entire acquisition in a hotel that the school has made and represents a significant investment into hotel accommodation for its clients.
The Coastline Hotel is a four-star resort that is to be sold to Claret Holdings Ltd., a company focused on providing education and tourism services whose registered office is the European School of English. According to the local newspaper article, the deal should close by the end of April, in time for the busy summer season.
Apart from owning ESE and the Executive Training Institute, Claret Holdings already owns another boutique hotel in St.Julians, The George Hotel, which opened its doors in 2010.
“Acquiring the Coastline Hotel is a strategic move to achieve growth in the hospitality industry at time when tourism in Malta is growing from strength to strength”, said Sean LeGault, CEO of Claret Holdings.
“Furthermore, this acquisition complements Claret’s strategy to invest in quality projects and our intention is to commence a full refurbishment project in Q4 2014.”
Malta is a highly popular destination for English language students, with a very busy summer season – 27% of all foreign students taught in 2012 were in Malta in June, July and August.
The hotel is a short walk from St Paul’s Bay and Bugibba and has 218 rooms. Vendor, Island Hotels Group Ltd., has also entered into an agreement with Claret Holdings to supply the hotel with food and beverage services for five years.
ESE has been teaching English in Malta since 1996.
