The sale, at the beginning of 2020, of Hostellerie Le Petit Manoir, a Morgian jewel made up of 25 rooms and a brasserie located in an 18th century house, raises questions. The former owner, the BOAS group, found buyers, Caroline and Sébastien Barrier, a couple from Périgord. In Morges, the news was all the more surprised that the company’s headquarters had left the city to move to Crissier in 2014.
On March 1, 2016, it was the luxurious Morgian medico-social domain of La Gottaz which left in the hands of the real estate company Swiss Prime Site at the same time as the entire seniors pole formed by 15 EMS. BOAS was reorienting itself in the hotel industry, represented by a dozen establishments, the hydrotherapy and the Lausanne aquarium-aquarium Aquatis. The number of employees then increased from 2000 to 700.
The new sale to Morges comes at a time when the Vaudois group recognized, at the end of 2019, a difficult start-up of the Aquatis aquarium-vivarium. He himself invested 35 million francs, or a third of the total amount committed in a complex which also includes a hotel. The boss of BOAS, Bernard Russi, announced an accounting loss of several hundred thousand francs as well as an insufficient financial result to make depreciation. From there to think that the sale of the Petit Manoir is a welcome source of cash, there is only one step.
High increase
The group boss does not communicate the amount of the transaction. The latest tax estimate (2015) amounted to 10,124 million francs, against 3.7 million in 2008, a year after the purchase by BOAS. It’s a rare growth, according to a real estate expert. Significant work took place, first of all restoration, then the creation of an annex. Usually, the tax estimate represents 80% of the market value of the object. But other factors may come into play.
According to an economist consulted, the hypothesis of a need for liquidity is plausible. But so is a strategic scenario. And it is from this angle that Bernard Russi is placed: “It is true that the group’s strategy has changed slightly and that we are targeting, for the future, essentially the operation of larger hotels, on urban sites, from 60 to 200 rooms, with specific infrastructures, such as conference rooms or thermal baths. ”He adds that the management of a“ hotel as unique as the Petit Manoir ”is“ a more sensitive affair than the management of hotels. larger dimensions, which is more standardized ”. In 2016, Bernard Russi explained that his group generally did not seek to own the walls of the establishments it operates and where it invests.
“Optimism” at Aquatis
The question of the relief that the proceeds from the sale of the Petit Manoir could bring to Aquatis remains open. Bernard Russi’s response is elusive: “For 2020, we are starting on a very optimistic note, having implemented a sales strategy comprising many new actions.” The boss of BOAS is more precise about the transformation of the Grand Hotel and Thermal Center of Yverdon-les-Bains, which should soon start at a cost of 30 million: “We are only operating the site. Therefore, any investment is taken care of by the investment fund of the owner company “, explains Bernard Russi.
The future of the BOAS group should become clear at the end of February. In addition to the presentation of a new hotel, the Atrium Airport in Meyrin, the Vaudois company says that it will unveil new investments.
Created: 11.01.2020, 08h25
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