Diversified business house ITC Ltd has emerged as a successful bidder to acquire hotel and resorts operator Blue Coast Hotels Ltd-owned Park Hyatt Hotel, which is located at Cansaulim in Goa, for about Rs 515.44 crore (approximately $82.8 million), according to a stock market disclosure.
ITC, known for its cigarettes and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) products, has already paid 25 per cent of the bid amount being Rs 128 crore (approximately $20.5 million), and is required to pay remaining within 15 days for the confirmation of sale, it said in the filing to the stock exchanges.
The company will be acquiring 250-key five-star deluxe Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa, along with land and built-up area of the hotel together with all buildings and structures and plant & machineries, which were put up for sale by Indian government-owned development bank IFCI Ltd last year.
Founded in 1992, Blue Coast Hotels & Resorts, owned by Suri family in Delhi, is an operator of hotels and resorts. Apart from Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa, it also owns MGM Grand New Delhi; Sheraton Chandigarh and Sheraton Amritsar.
ITC is into hotels, cigarettes, paper packaging, lifestyle retailing, safety matches, branded stationery, agricultural commodities, and FMCG. However, cigarette manufacturing and sales remain its largest economic activity in revenue terms.
At present, ITC operates more than 90 hotels under four distinct brands -- ITC Hotel at the luxury end, WelcomHotel in the 5-star segment, Fortune in the mid-market to upscale segment and WelcomHeritage in the heritage leisure segment.
Its first overseas hotel in Colombo, being built along with the Sri Lankan government, is expected to open in 2018.
On Monday, shares of ITC closed the day at Rs 390.15, down 1.45 per cent on the BSE in a weak Mumbai market.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
