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.