(ShareCast News) - PPHE Hotel Group said on Friday that Arenaturist, in which it has a controlling stake, has agreed to buy the freehold interests in two hotels in Germany.It will buy Art'otel Cologne and Art'otel Berlin for €54.5m from an unnamed third party. Opened in 2010, Art'otel Cologne is located on the Rheinaudocks in the centre of Cologne, while Art'otel Berlin is a 152-room hotel in the Charlottenburg area.PPHE said this is the first step towards "developing Arenaturist into a leading Central and Eastern European leisure and hospitality company with a business model that includes owning and managing its own assets and those of others, primarily under the Park Plaza brand".President and chief executive officer Boris Ivesha said: "The board is delighted with the acquisition of the freeholds of these two hotels in Cologne and Berlin which we have managed under our wholly owned Art'otel brand for a number of years."The group's portfolio in Germany consists of eight hotels and this latest acquisition highlights our commitment to our presence in gateway cities in Europe."At 1210 GMT, the shares were down 0.4% to 685p.