In Madrid, the Canalejas Center stands as a luxury complex that blends a five-star hotel, fully serviced apartments, a premium shopping gallery, offices, and parking spaces, all located adjacent to Puerta del Sol. The centerpiece of this project involves a strategic partnership between OHLA, a major Spanish infrastructure group, and Mohari Hospitality, founded by the PokerStars entrepreneur. The two entities held equal ownership, each owning half of the venture, and the dispute now circling their collaboration has led them to seek settlement before the International Chamber of Arbitration in Paris.
The post-2017 chapter saw a significant shift when Grupo Villar, an Israeli-Canadian investment entity led by Mohari’s executives, acquired a subsidiary holding tied to the Canalejas project for 215 million euros. While the sale did not irreversibly alter the working relationship between OHLA and Mohari, it underscored the broader financial dynamics at play as both parties navigated debt concerns surrounding the asset. According to multiple sources, OHLA’s stated aim was to reduce leverage, a motive that has fed into the ongoing negotiations and strategic planning around the project’s future.
When the partnership was formed, each side retained a veto-like mechanism designed to preserve the other party’s interests in the event of a withdrawal from the project. Mohari’s team has noted that OHLA was offered certain rights, yet those agreements were not implemented in ways that could foreseeably shape market conditions or the timing of any potential stake sale. A key feature of the partnership was a guarantee framework intended to protect Mohari’s initial investment, a provision that remains central to the current dispute as both sides reassess ownership terms and return expectations.
Dispute over the partner agreement
Openly Asset Management, the asset management arm associated with the OHLA portfolio, is a focal point in Mohari’s concerns. Mohari argues that the guarantees embedded in the agreement should have shielded its investment while also aligning with operational standards for the Canalejas Center. However, recent discussions have revealed a growing rift over the interpretation of certain obligations set forth in the shareholders’ agreement. Mohari’s representatives indicate that the disagreement does not solely hinge on OHLA’s intention to divest its stake, but rather on the governance and operational management of the Canalejas Center itself. At this stage, Mohari has initiated arbitration proceedings, though the formal filing with the Paris arbitration chamber has not yet been completed.
The Paris-based International Arbitration Chamber is expected to determine the proper interpretation of the partnership agreement and to assess whether the protections promised to Mohari are legally enforceable or could be deemed an unjust enrichment by a foreign investor. The outcome will have important implications for the Canalejas project’s viability and funding structure, potentially altering how the asset is managed, financed, and marketed in the near term. The arbitration decision will not only resolve the immediate conflict between OHLA and Mohari but could also set a precedent for how similar cross-border infrastructure collaborations are interpreted under Spanish and international commercial law. The parties have emphasized that the goal remains to protect the long-term value of Canalejas for all stakeholders, while avoiding disruptions that could undermine Madrid’s luxury market and the surrounding urban development strategy. (Citation: internal stakeholder briefings and executive summaries; observers note the dispute centers on governance rather than a simple sale of the asset.)