Soges Spa, after listing grows and acquires

A few weeks after its listing on 12 June last on the Euronext Growth Milan segment of the Italian Stock Exchange, Soges - a SME active in the direct management of luxury accommodation facilities, 4-star hotels or period residences located in Tuscany - Soges Group, in this month of July, signed a business lease agreement for the management of the Hotel Malaspina in Florence, closed since the Covid period, which currently has 31 rooms, of which 9 single and 22 double. Soges' objective is to redevelop it. In addition, it finalised the purchase of the 'Hotel Borgo di Cortefreda' building and hotel business unit. In June, it had acquired the management of the Dependance of the Hotel Art Atelier in Florence, outside and adjacent to the structure, with the consequent expansion of a further 14 managed rooms and the unification at management level of the two structures (as of 1 July, the number of managed units of the Hotel Art Atelier thus increased from 19 to 33 rooms). Lastly, by common agreement between the parties, the deadline for the closing of the acquisition of the hotel business "Park Hotel Chianti", already under management by Soges, originally scheduled by 31 July 2024 was postponed to 30 September 2024.

During the placement Soges Group raised EUR 2.4 million. The free float is 21.18% and the market capitalisation at IPO is approximately EUR 11.6 million. Part of the resources will be earmarked for the acquisition of new management companies throughout the country.

"Joining the Stock Exchange," explained Andrea Galardi, co-founder and CEO of Soges Group Spa, "represents a fundamental step in our growth path, an opportunity to further accelerate our development. We are confident that our simple, scalable and effective business model will allow us to maximise revenues and margins in a fast-growing sector full of opportunities, but tired and in need of solid and professional operators. We are ready to strengthen our presence in Tuscany and expand throughout the country; thanks to the centralisation of individual strategic departments, we offer entrepreneurs access to experienced professionals in key areas such as revenue management, communication, sales and IT to help them sustain the profitability of their structures in an increasingly globalised tourism context".

According to an analysis published in March by MarketLine (titled "Market Industry Profile, Travel & Tourism in Italy"), it is estimated that the hospitality market in Italy will reach a total value of approximately EUR 72 billion by 2027, with a Cagr 2022-27 of 10.8 per cent. Driving this trend will be, similarly to the European market, the growing demand for hotels and other accommodation facilities, the increase in the world population, the significant expected recovery of the travel and tourism industry, international sporting and business events - scheduled to take place in the coming years - and the implementation of the Italian government's measures to support the tourism sector in relation to the NRP.

However, although Italy boasts a hotel offer of over 32,000 structures, unlike countries such as Spain and France, where hotel chains represent 39% and 21% of structures respectively, it shows a low penetration of them, with only 7% of the total, well below the European average of 18.5%. In detail, the Italian hotel sector is mainly characterised by 3- and 4-star hotels with a number of rooms below 100, but in the period 2014-2022 there was a marked growth in the 5- and 4-star segments and a complementary reduction in the market shares of 1- and 2-star structures.