Azora sets its sights on Italia: a new office in Milan and 1.5 billion in investment on the way

Azora is accelerating its expansion in the Italian market with the opening of a new office in Milan and a plan for further investment totalling 1.5 billion euros over the coming years. The Spanish fund regards Italia as a strategic market within its European expansion strategy. The new Milan office has been set up with the aim of bringing the platform closer to local operators, investment opportunities and assets in the region. To this end, the international group – which already has offices in Madrid, Luxembourg, London and Miami – has recruited 12 professionals to launch the new Milan office. They will be led by Simone Palmieri, a manager with over twenty years’ experience in the Italian property sector, who has been appointed investment director for Italia.

The planned investments will cover various property and infrastructure sectors, with a particular focus on hospitality, student accommodation and green infrastructure linked to biomethane. The strategy also includes opportunities in the residential, logistics and data centre sectors, with a focus on assets with a stronger operational component and projects meeting high sustainability standards. “Italia is a strategic market for Azora, and the opening of the Milan office represents a natural step in our European growth,” explained Javier Rodríguez-Heredia, managing partner at Azora, emphasising the importance of a direct local presence to develop relationships with partners and seize new opportunities.

Azora first entered the Italia market in 2019, with the acquisition of the Grand Palladium Sicily, a resort with over 450 rooms located near Palermo. The company then strengthened its position in the tourism sector in 2021 with the acquisition of Bluserena from the Maresca family, Italia’s second-largest operator in the resort segment. The transaction added 13 hotels to Azora’s portfolio, comprising around 4,200 rooms spread across some of Italy’s leading tourist destinations, including Sardinia, Sicily, Puglia, Abruzzo, Piedmont and Calabria.

At the same time, Azora has also developed a platform in Italia dedicated to biomethane through Draycott, a company specialising in the acquisition, conversion and management of renewable energy production plants. The platform currently comprises seven projects and has expanded its operations to include projects in Lombardy and Sicily. These include the conversion of plants in Capralba and Moscazzano, in the province of Cremona, and in Romano di Lombardia, in the Bergamo area, as well as two greenfield projects in Trapani aimed at utilising agricultural and livestock waste.