Singapore chain buys RI hotel

Singapore chain buys RI hotel

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore's Hong Leong Group has acquired its first hotel in Indonesia, the 405-room Equatorial in Jakarta, boosting its international chain to 57 hotels in 12 countries, spokesmen said yesterday.

Singapore-listed Republic Hotels and Resorts Ltd. (RHR) took an 80-percent stake in PT Tanahabang Inda Pratama, the Indonesian company which owns the 15-story Jakarta hotel, for about US$13.8 million.

Republic Hotels' parent is CDL Hotels International, which in turn is part of the Hong Leong group. With the Jakarta acquisition, CDL Hotels now has a total of 15,000 rooms in its chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States.

Hong Leong boss Kwek Leng Beng, chairman of CDL and RHR, signed the purchase agreement for the Jakarta hotel and said CDL was still actively looking for more opportunities in the Asia- Pacific region.

The CDL chain now includes Europe's Copthorne Hotels, with 18 hotels in Britain, France and Germany, as well as the Plaza, a New York city landmark.

They have been merged into the Millenium and Copthorne Hotels plc, which was listed in London in April, making Hong Leong the first Singapore group to acquire companies in the West and then restructure them into a listed entity.

The Hong Leong group is estimated to have more than $16 billion in assets worldwide.