RIYADH: The Kingdom Holding Company, chaired by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, announced on Monday a series of agreements between Fairmont Raffles Holdings International (FRHI), Voyager Partners Limited (Voyager) and Qatari Diar Hotel & Property Investment Limited (QDHP).
Under the agreements worth $847 million, Voyager has acquired a 40 percent stake in FRHI. In addition, QDHP has undertaken to provide FRHI with a number of future management contracts for hotels that will be branded either Fairmont, Raffles or Swissotel.
QDHP will, in addition, work closely with its various stakeholders and FRHI on branded hotel management opportunities in the future.
As a result of these agreements, Kingdom Holding Company will become the second largest shareholder in FRHI, and Colony Capital will become Fairmont's third largest shareholder.
Voyager is a private investment entity based in the Cayman Island, and QDHP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qatari Diar, the principal real estate investment entity of the Qatar Investment Authority.
"I welcome the strategic alliance with Qatari Diar," said Prince Alwaleed commenting on the transaction.
"I am delighted to welcome both Voyager and QDHP as our new and strategic partners in FRHI. The selection of FRHI as their flagship hotel entity, and the significant cash investment made, underlines the strength of FRHI's brands and management capabilities and provides assurance that FRHI's growth on a global basis will be amongst the highest in the industry," he added.
© Arab News 2010
