Banyan Tree expand into China and Vietnam

Feb. 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Singapore: Well-known hospitality group Banyan Tree Holdings Limited, have announced that they have raised US$214 million through their private equity fund, the Banyan Tree China Hospitality Fund.

Banyan Tree Holdings have previously stated their intention to develop a number of hospitality projects in China, including one hundred suites or villas in Chengdu and two hundred and fifty in Guangdong.

The Banyan Tree China Hospitality Fund was set up to finance these projects in China, under the Banyan Tree and Angsana brands.

“The China Fund will further enable us to establish a portfolio of resorts and hotels in the fast developing economy of China, in line with the expansion of our plans for Banyan Tree and Angsana-branded properties into this market. With the five resorts that we currently operate and manage in the country and another 18 in the pipeline, we will be undertaking hospitality projects in the People’s Republic of China that will be operated under the Company’s brands of Banyan Tree and Angsana. Banyan Tree Holdings will invest an amount equivalent to at least five percent of the total capital commitments of the Final Closing,” commented Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings.

“In the next five years we will probably be opening another thirty hotels. So we will roughly have sixty hotels overall and possibly twenty could be in China alone,” he added.

Listed on the Singapore stock exchange, Banyan Tree Holdings Limited are a leading developer and operator of five-star resorts, hotels and spas throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

The company’s flagship resort is the Laguna Phuket complex in Thailand, which they operate through their subsidiary, Laguna Resorts and Hotels PLC.

In 2010, Banyan Tree Holdings stated their intention to reduce, what they considered to be, over exposure in Thailand’s hospitality market. This was followed quickly by the sale of the Dusit Thani Hotel at Laguna Phuket. The sale raised US$68.4 million which was used to reduce debt and provide funds for investment in China and Vietnam.

In Vietnam, the Banyan Tree Indochina Hospitality Fund is funding the development of the Laguna Hue resort.

Laguna Hue is one of the first, fully integrated, world-class hospitality projects to be developed in Vietnam. The two hundred and eighty hectare beachfront site is located within an hour’s drive of both Danang and Hue international airports.

The company expect Laguna Hue in Vietnam to mirror the success of Laguna Phuket in Thailand.

Read more from the source here... http://blog.oceanvillasgroup.com/banyan-tree-expand-into-...

Rebecca Smith
Ocean Villas Group - http://www.oceanvillasgroup.com

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