Partners Group acquires minority stake in Trinity Investments

NATIONAL REPORT — Swiss private equity firm Partners Group and Trinity Investments have teamed up for several high-profile hotel investments. Now, Partners is making a sizeable investment with its frequent JV partner.

On Monday, Partners said it is acquiring a minority stake in Honolulu-based Trinity Investments to support its future growth. Partners also said it was initially targeting a $500 million investment with Trinity, which would provide an opportunity to commit further capital to the company’s North American, European, and special situations investment platforms.

Sean Hehir

“We are grateful to have a long-standing relationship with Partners Group,” said Sean Hehir, managing partner, president and CEO of Trinity. “We see an abundance of opportunities to deploy our sophisticated platform for hotel real estate, repositioning, operation and asset management into new hotel assets and credit investments both in North America and abroad.”

Trinity and Partners Group have teamed up for two high-profile hotel investments over the past few years. The first was a 2022 joint venture to acquire The Las Colinas Four Seasons (terms of the deal were not disclosed), which received a $55 million renovation and conversion to Dallas’ second Ritz-Carlton. That JV was 70% Partners, with Trinity providing 30% and the in-house hospitality real estate expertise and operations. 

The second investment happened earlier this month with a joint venture to acquire the 404-key Scottsdale Plaza Resort & Villas in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Terms of that deal were also not disclosed. The new owners plan to make a significant capital investment in the property, and the transaction also includes the potential for expansion with entitlements secured by the seller.

“We are investing in real estate operating companies in order to gain vertical depth in sectors and geographies where we have strong thematic conviction. Trinity has nearly three decades of experience in the hotel real estate asset class, and that depth of knowledge shines through,” said Jason Longo, member of management, real estate Americas for Partners Group. “We believe Trinity’s value-add approach closely matches our focus on value creation. Through our more integrated relationship, we will build platforms that could unlock attractive returns for our clients.”

Trinity has $5.8 billion in assets under management and a high-profile portfolio that includes the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida and the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix. 

Trinity also recently landed its first deal in Europe, acquiring the 138-key Park Hyatt Zurich from an affiliate of Hyatt Hotels Corp. Trinity made the acquisition with a partnership of funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management and funds managed by UBS Asset Management’s Real Estate & Private Markets Multi-Managers business. While deal price details were not disclosed, a December report from Bloomberg said negotiations on the sale were underway and the asset could fetch a price of around $467 million.