Asian hotels west sells Bengaluru hotel

Asian Hotels (West), which owns the Hyatt in Mumbai and JW Marriott in Delhi’s Aerocity, today sold its 50.49% stake in Inovoa Hotels and Resorts to Fleur Hotels Private Limited. Fleur Hotels, which is owned by Lemon Tree group and the Dutch pension fund ABG, has picked up 100% stake in the company for Rs 64 crore, it is learnt.

“We want to get out of the four star segment and develop luxury hotel properties now. This is why we decided to sell our stake in the company,” said Sushil Gupta, chairman and managing director, Asian Hotels (West). The company also owns Clarion Collection hotel earlier known as the Qutub in Delhi.

Inovoa Hotels owns and operates “Clarion Century” hotel in Whitefield, Bengaluru. It is a 130 room boutique property. Fleur Hotels will invest Rs 11-15 crore in refurbishing the hotel.

Lemon Tree group owns 53% stake in Fleur Hotels. The company is in talks with several hotel groups for acquisition and is likely to finalise a few deals in the next two months. The company claims to be the third largest hotel owner in India, with over 2,850 operating rooms and another 1,200 under active development. The company already operates two hotels in Bengaluru.

“This acquisition will help us gain a foothold in the growing micro market of Whitefield. Over the next 6 months, we intend to renovate and refurbish the hotel to align it to the Lemon Tree brand standards of a fresh, fun and refreshingly different hotel,” said Patu Keswani, Chairman and Managing Director, Lemon Tree Hotels.

Fleur Hotels currently has an inventory of 450 rooms and plans to take this up to 1,500 rooms by 2014.

Asian Hotels (West) scrip was down by 9%, trading at Rs 95.05 on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) at market closing time.