EIH to buy out partner in international JV

PRS Oberoi promoted EIH Ltd will buyout its Hong Kong-based investment partner Amex Investment Ltd’s stake in EIH Holdings  British Virgin Islands.

Luxury hotelier Oberoi will acquire Amex’s 45.85% equity in its international hotel joint venture company for $45 million.
The acquisition will be done through EIH’s wholly owned subsidiary (WoS), EIH International Ltd British Virgin Islands.

“A letter of intent for the acquisition has been signed with the principal shareholder of Amex. The proposed transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including mutual agreement of the formal transaction documents and applicable regulatory approvals,” EIH management said in an official filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The international JV company has equity investments in Oberoi’s
existing hotels in Mauritius, Sahl Hasheesh Egypt, Bali and Lombok in Indonesia.

The JV is also party to long-term hotel management contracts for the aforesaid hotels in addition to the pure-play management contracts with The Oberoi Zahra and Nile Cruiser in Egypt.

This apart, there are long-term hotel management contracts already in place for new Oberoi hotels (under construction and/or under planning) in Dubai, Marrakech Morocco, Greece and a second hotel in Mauritius.

With the successful conclusion of the proposed acquisition, “All these assets will be entirely owned by EIH Ltd through its subsidiary EIH International Ltd,” the filing said.

Acquisition of Amex’s equity will also allow EIH Holdings Ltd to now enter into new long-term global licensing agreement with exclusive rights to use the ‘Oberoi’ and ‘Trident’ brands throughout the world, where EIH Ltd has been licensed on a similar basis for many years.