MYD Capital Partners advises real estate, hospitality and urban development companies with €50M–€500M in annual revenue on selling, buying, raising capital, financing projects and preparing for a transaction. Our work spans commercial and mixed-use development, branded residences, luxury hospitality and urban regeneration, with a focus on the asset documentation, project-level economics and financing structures this sector's counterparties examine most closely.
Real estate is the sector where preparation and capital structure matter most visibly. Value sits in assets, contracts and entitlements rather than in recurring earnings, and a counterparty's first question is almost always about what is actually owned, on what terms, and with what encumbrances. Companies that can answer that question completely and immediately are valued differently from companies that cannot.
Where we focus
- Commercial development. Office, retail and logistics developers, valued on land bank, entitlement status, pre-let coverage and the credibility of the delivery pipeline.
- Mixed-use and masterplanned development. Large-scale schemes combining residential, commercial and leisure uses, where phasing discipline and infrastructure obligations drive returns.
- Branded residences. Residential development operating under a hotel or luxury brand licence, where the brand agreement itself is a central value driver and a central diligence item.
- Luxury hospitality. Hotels, resorts and hospitality operating platforms, valued on RevPAR trajectory, management agreement terms and the distinction between property ownership and operating income.
- Urban regeneration. Long-cycle schemes involving public-sector counterparties, planning gain and infrastructure delivery, frequently structured as public-private partnerships.
- Real estate operating platforms. Asset and property management businesses with recurring fee income, valued on a different basis from the assets they manage.
- Construction and contracting groups. Contractors and specialist trades, valued on backlog quality, margin discipline and bonding capacity rather than headline revenue.
What buyers and investors look for
Asset documentation is the foundation. Clean title, unambiguous ownership structure, current valuations by a recognized firm, and a complete picture of encumbrances and cross-collateralization. A portfolio that cannot be traced entity by entity slows every process it enters.
Beyond documentation, counterparties look for entitlement and permitting status that has actually been obtained rather than anticipated; a land bank held at a defensible basis; pre-let or pre-sale coverage that de-risks the pipeline; and a delivery record that shows schemes completed on programme and on budget. In hospitality, the terms of management and franchise agreements matter as much as the asset — a long agreement with favourable termination provisions materially changes what a buyer will pay.
Capital structure is examined earlier in this sector than in any other. Maturity profile, covenant headroom, recourse and the identity of the lenders behind each facility all shape what is possible.
What lowers valuation
Entitlement risk that has been presented as resolved and has not been. Concentration in a single scheme, a single tenant or a single geography. Development exposure that is unhedged against construction cost inflation. Related-party transactions between family-held entities that have never been documented at arm's length — extremely common in family-owned property groups, and consistently one of the most disruptive findings in diligence.
On the financing side: near-term maturities without a refinancing plan, covenants tied to valuations rather than cash flow, and cross-default provisions linking otherwise healthy assets to a single problem facility. These are capital architecture issues rather than business issues, which is why they are addressable — see The Dawn™.
In hospitality specifically: deferred capital expenditure that a brand agreement will require to be caught up, and operating performance that depends on a management team not contractually committed to stay.
Cross-border interest
Real estate and hospitality attract the broadest cross-border counterparty pool of any sector we work in. Sovereign and institutional investors seeking hard-asset exposure, hospitality brands seeking management and licensing footprint, development partners seeking local execution capability, and family offices seeking inflation-linked holdings all approach this sector from different directions and value the same assets differently.
Cross-border processes here carry additional structural questions — ownership restrictions, repatriation, currency mismatch between financing and income — which have to be addressed in the structure rather than after it.
Preparing for a transaction
A structured readiness process, aligned with The Goldsmith™, typically covers:
- Entity-by-entity asset register with title documentation and current third-party valuations
- Complete encumbrance and cross-collateralization map across all facilities
- Entitlement and permitting status for each scheme, with outstanding conditions identified
- Development appraisals rebuilt on a consistent, defensible basis
- Construction contracts reviewed for cost exposure, liquidated damages and assignment
- Management, franchise and brand licence agreements with term and termination analysis
- Related-party transactions identified and restated at arm's length
- Lease register with covenant strength, expiry profile and break options
- Debt schedule with maturity profile, covenant headroom and recourse position
- Capital expenditure record with deferred items quantified
- Environmental and regulatory compliance documentation
- Health and safety record for construction and operating assets
Our Readiness Assessment benchmarks companies in this sector against these dimensions before a process begins.
How we work with real estate and hospitality companies
Most engagements begin with The Goldsmith™, because this is the sector where the gap between what a company knows about itself and what it can document is widest. The asset register, the encumbrance map and the restated appraisals are frequently the most valuable output of the whole process, transaction or not.
The Confluence™ then maps and approaches the counterparties most likely to value the specific asset base — institutional capital, hospitality brands, development partners or strategic acquirers — and manages the process to signature. Where the constraint is the balance sheet rather than the market, The Dawn™ addresses maturity profile, covenants and cost of capital first. Where the right answer is a development partner or brand relationship rather than a sale, The Polarity™ structures it.
Frequently asked questions
Should we sell the assets or the company that owns them?
It depends on the tax position, the debt structure and what the counterparty can actually execute. The comparison belongs in the structuring work rather than in the first conversation, but it should be modeled before outreach begins, not during negotiation.
How are development pipelines valued when nothing is built yet?
On the credibility of the appraisal and the status of the entitlements. A scheme with permissions granted, costs tendered and pre-lets signed is valued very differently from the same scheme at concept stage, even where the eventual economics are identical.
Our group holds assets across several family entities. Is that a problem?
It is a common structure and a manageable one, provided the relationships between entities are documented and the transactions between them can be restated at arm's length. Left undocumented, it becomes one of the most disruptive diligence findings in this sector.
Can a hospitality business be sold separately from its property?
Frequently, yes, and separating the operating business from the asset often produces a better combined outcome because the two attract different counterparties with different return requirements. The structure has to be built before the market is approached.