Dubai Ventures buys 5% in Bharat Hotels

Dubai Ventures, the private equity arm of Dubai Investment Group, has picked up 5% stake in Delhi-based Bharat Hotels for Rs 160 crore. The deal values the company at Rs 3,200 crore. Post-deal, the promoters’ stake— the Suri family and associates — will come down to 92%.

The hospitality chain plans to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore through internal accruals, debt and private equity placements to fund its expansion programme. The expansion involves six properties under construction, while talks are on for setting up luxury hotels in Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chennai, Pune and Gulmarg.

The group had recently announced its international foray through a JV with Dubai-based Nakheel Group. Its Dubai property, The Grand Fort Dubai, is set to open in 2009. The group’s Kolkata property, the 165-year-old The Grand Great Eastern, is currently under renovation.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

DLF, Bharat Hotels plan JV

Realty major DLF and Bharat Hotels, owners of The Grand group of hotels, are working towards a joint venture (JV) for developing and running hotels. While DLF will own the land and be in charge of the actual construction of hotels, the latter will operate the hotels.The two companies already have a hotel in Chandigarh.

The two companies are in talks to build hotels in the two townships that DLF is developing with Nakheel, a large property developer from the UAE. DLF and Nakheel have a 50:50 joint venture to develop a total 40,000 acres between Gurgaon and South Maharashtra, Goa at an initial investment of $10 billion.

In the prospectus that DLF had filed with the Securities & Exchange Board of India for its initial public offering, it had stated that it would be making its foray into hotels in joint ventures with Hilton International and Bharat Hotels.

Read more in The Business Standard article.