Kingdom Hotel Investments (“KHI”), the leading hotel and resort acquisition and development company, announces the acquisition of the Movenpick Resort & Spa Mauritius for US $50m including bank debt of US $19.5m. As a result of the transaction, KHI will be the sole owner of the five star hotel, formerly Movenpick Voile d’Or Resort & Spa, which is located in the newly established Bel Ombre resort area in Southwest Mauritius.
The five-star resort and spa opened in 2004 and has been operated by Movenpick since October 2005. Movenpick will continue to operate the resort under KHI’s ownership.
This acquisition represents a good opportunity to secure a prime property in one of Africa’s most prestigious resort markets and is in line with KHI’s international expansion strategy to penetrate the first class and luxury market segments in high growth markets. KHI expects the hotel to achieve its target return on capital employed by 2008.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Chairman of KHI, said: “We are very pleased to add Movenpick Resort & Spa Mauritius to our portfolio. The acquisition is firmly in line with our strategy to build a group of the world’s leading destination resort hotels. Mauritius is at the forefront of tourism growth in the Indian Ocean and this hotel is truly a first class development with a paradise setting.”
Sarmad Zok, Chief Executive Officer of KHI, said: “We see tremendous potential at the Movenpick Resort & Spa Mauritius. This is a fast-growing area of tourism and this hotel has the potential to becoming one of the island’s leading resort properties.”
