Indian hotels in strategic partnership with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC

Tata group-led Indian Hotels Company Limited on Friday signed a strategic partnership with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC for an investment framework to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore over a period of three years.

The capital platform will be used to acquire fully operational hotels mainly in the luxury, upper upscale and upscale segments in India.

It allows the hospitality company to pursue acquisitions in an asset-light format, with the equity contribution from Indian hotels at 30 per cent and the balance contributed by GIC in the next three years.

The acquisitions are intended to be housed in a separate special purpose vehicle with its own funding. The hotels acquired within the framework will be managed by Indian Hotels under its marquee brands.

This framework will complement Indian hotel's current growth aspirations via management contracts. In February 2018, Indian hotels had outlined a development strategy 'Aspiration 2022' to drive its inventory growth.

Through this strategy, the company aspires to create greater enterprise value and make Indian Hotels South Asia's most profitable and hospitality company.

Indian Hotels owns brands like Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta, The Gateway, Ginger, Expressions and TajSATS.

Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) is a sovereign wealth fund established in 1981 to manage Singapore's foreign reserves. GIC is a global long-term investor with over 100 billion US dollars in assets in over 40 countries worldwide.

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