It is increasingly rare that construction sites finish on time. The construction schedule is regularly hampered by weather, material or personnel availability issues. But u City of gastronomy Dijon for delivery Hotel Sainte-Anne Curio (Hilton brand), which was originally announced for early 2023, is more concerning. Its promoter, the Naos Hôtel group, was in fact placed under receivership by the commercial court in Poitiers with a period of judicial observation at the beginning of November. And Taeo, the holding company of its founder and president-shareholder Pascal Lemarchand, was placed into protective proceedings at the end of October.
The construction site of the Hotel Sainte-Anne Curio is well advanced, but no one wants to say if and when the building will be handed over? Neither the Naos hotel group nor the town hall responded to our requests. And the financial partners of the promoter on this project are not more talkative. Naos Murs Dijon, which brings them together around the promoter, is not affected by collective management, while Naos Hôtel Dijon is also in receivership. Both are based in Chasseneuil du Poitou in Vienne, where the Naos group is headquartered.
Promoter Support Round Table
This luxury hotel needs to step up City of gastronomy and wine , opened in May 2022 in the center of Dijon. When the first stone was laid in September 2021, the investment in real estate amounted to 38 million euros. Banque des Territoires (Caisse des Dépôts group) finances 40% of the operation’s capital requirements (i.e. 4 million), together with Naos group (38%), Caisse d’Epargne Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (11%) and Crédit Agricole Champagne-Bourgogne (11%). The banking pool created by the BPCE group strengthens debt financing for 28 million euros. Eiffage is responsible for the construction.
Naos, which has been retained as an operator since 2017, tucks this high-end hotel into the former hospices of Sainte-Anne, whose facades and roofs are listed as historical monuments. 125 rooms and suites, the semi-gastronomic restaurant La Table de Sainte-Anne, seminar rooms and the Nhoraé wellness center, which mainly offers treatments and fitness, were announced.
Very high debt, many openings
Naos Hotel group is a franchisee of the Hilton and Marriott brands in France. At the beginning of 2022, it claimed 33 establishments spread throughout the French territory, representing more than 5,500 rooms. However, it has a number of openings from 2021 and still has projects, especially in Pas-de-Calais (Arras, Le Touquet).
Naos achieved a turnover of 21 million euros in 2021, an increase of 94% compared to the previous year. The company then recorded an operating profit of almost 5 million (+100%) and a more modest net profit (346,000 euros). Still, the debt amounted to just over 33 million euros, including almost 17 million euros in financial debts and loans and almost 10 million in supplier debts.