Arab group snaps up Raffles Cambodian hotels

THE hotel-investment company controlled by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the Saudi Arabian billionaire, has made its first foray into Cambodia as part of its quest to expand into emerging markets.

Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI), which floated last year on the Dubai stock exchange and has a secondary listing in London, has made a double acquisition in the country.

As well as picking up Raffles Hotel Le Royal in the capital Phnom Penh, it has also bought the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor in Siem Reap, close to the historic ruins at Angkor, for a total of $35m (£17.2m).

The company, which is headed by chief executive Sarmad Zok, regards Cambodia as a market where tourism is set to boom, as it has done in neighbouring countries such as Vietnam.

It is estimated that the number of tourists visiting Cambodia has already grown by around 22% over the past eight years.

After the deal, Raffles will continue to manage the hotels while the properties will be owned by KHI.

The group’s move follows the acquisition in April of its first hotel in China, a property in the city of Kunshan, outside Shanghai, for $58m.

With the Cambodian purchase, the group now has 36 hotels in 20 countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Zam-bia and the Philippines.

The expansion of KHI reflects a wider appetite among investors for hotel real estate.

Last week, Cadbridge, an investment consortium, acquired Legacy Hotels, a hotel-property group listed in Toronto.

Earlier this month, buyout firm Black-stone acquired Hilton Hotels Corporation for $26 billion including debt, making it the world’s largest hotel owner.