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Dubai Holding, with assets over $35 billion across public and private markets globally, is reportedly in talks with French hotel group Accor to fund the development of two luxury cruise liners under the Orient Express brand for €800 million ($867.8 million).
According to a report in the UK’s Financial Times, which has cited multiple sources familiar with the matter, talks between the two parties are at an “advanced stage”, even as the Accor group also courts other investors in the market.
Both companies declined to comment to FT.
Accor first announced its plans to launch two Orient Express-branded superyachts last January, unveiling the Orient Express Silenseas, which the company said at the time will set sail in 2026, followed by the launch of the second offering in 2027.
A release at the time stated the 220-metre-long ship will feature 54 suites, including a 1,415-square-metre Presidential Suite, two swimming pools, two restaurants and a speakeasy bar.
According to FT, Accor has been seeking a partner to bankroll the majority of the capital expenditure associated with the cruise liners, in line with its “asset-light” strategy, three people said.
Accor is also launching luxury hotels and trains under the Orient Express moniker, with FT citing sources as saying that any possible partnership could extend to the hotel and train assets under the brand.
The Orient Express luxury train line was first developed by the Belgian businessman Georges Nagelmackers and made its inaugural run in 1883, linking Paris with Istanbul.
The possible launch of two luxury liners in the UAE comes as no surprise with last week’s Dubai International Boat Show shining the light on the growing demand for superyachts in the Middle East.
“Dubai Harbour today is the busiest it has bever been, with the number of visiting superyachts having doubled compared to the same period a year ago,” Abdulla Binhabtoor, Chief Portfolio Management Officer with Shamal Holding, the Dubai-based investment firm managing Dubai Harbour, told Zawya during the event.
The luxury yacht market in the Middle East is expected to grow in value from $306 million in 2022 to a projected $481 million by 2028, according to Knight Frank data, keeping up with the growth forecasted in the number of HNWIs in the UAE, which is expected to reach more than 228,000 by 2026.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
