Duke Street sells Galaxie

Duke Street Capital has sold Financiére Galaxie, a French budget hotel chain, in a secondary buyout to Eurozeo for an undisclosed sum. It is Duke Street’s first exit to come from its Paris office. Duke Street Capital V bought the business in July 2003 and a year later completed a £223m refinancing. The decision to sell was made in the early part of the year and BNP Paribas was hired to take care of the auction process. Financiére Galaxie owns B&B Hotel, a budget hotel group with over 100 properties in France, a franchise in 11 others, as well as eight hotels in Germany, which totals at about 8,015 rooms. Reports are now circulating that Eurozeo wants to buy Taittinger, a champagne producer and owner of 800 budget hotels.