Hedge Funds Target Firm That Bet $2 Billion on Hotels Pre-Covid
- Vivion most shorted credit in Europe with 16% of bonds on loan
- Real estate investor bought U.K. hotels before the pandemic
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A pre-pandemic buying spree of U.K. hotels and the arrest of its controlling shareholder have made Vivion Investments a favorite short bet among hedge funds trading Europe’s credit market.
The property company invested more than 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) in British hotels just before Covid devastated the travel industry. Now, bonds issued by Vivion, a company controlled by Israeli tycoon Amir Dayan, are the most shorted in Europe, according to IHS Markit Ltd.