K Raheja Corp company Chalet Hotels Ltd has agreed to acquire Accor SA’s Novotel hotel in Pune, marking the beginning of its tie-up with the French hospitality group.
Chalet Hotels said in a statement it will acquire Belaire Hotels Pvt. Ltd, which owns the Pune hotel, and its affiliate Seapearl Hotels Pvt. Ltd for an enterprise value of Rs 290 crore ($40.8 million at current exchange rates).
The hotel is operated by Accor’s AAPC India Hotel Management Pvt Ltd. Apart from Novotel, Accor also operates hotels under the brands Ibis, Fairmont and Sofitel in India.
BHPL’s Novotel Pune is in the city’s upscale Viman Nagar area. The hotel unit caters to business travellers and has 223 rooms, with a capacity to add up to another 88. It is operated by AAPC India Hotel Management Pvt. Ltd, (which is part of the Accor Group).
Sanjay Sethi, managing director and chief executive officer at Chalet, said the acquisition was in line with the company’s growth strategy of expanding its portfolio to newer geographies.
“We look forward to working with the very capable management team of Accor to turn around this hotel through capacity enhancement and aggressive growth in market share,” he said.
The completion of the acquisition is subject to the fulfilment to conditions listed within the SPA.
The company owns and operates hotel and apartment units such as the Lakeside Chalet Marriott Executive Service Apartments and the Renaissance Mumbai Hotel and Convention Centre.
The firm listed itself on stock markets last year, with its initial public offering being fully covered on the final day of its issue, with its total size being estimated at Rs 1,642 crore (around $230 million). Ahead of the IPO, Chalet Hotels raised Rs 492.35 crore ($69 million) from 27 anchor investors that included Blackrock, Goldman Sachs, Kuwait Investment Authority and HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co.
