LOLC Seeks Hotel Chains to Rebrand & Manage Confifi Hotels

24th October 2010, sundaytimes.lk, By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera

LOLC has zeroed in on three international hotel chain contenders to re-brand and manage Confifi hotels which they recently bought from the Furkhan family, sources close to the company said. They said chains such as Hilton and Accor are interested in managing these hotels.

“We plan to spend roughly US$ 30 million in refurbishing its properties,” a source told the Business Times. The Furkhans sold some of their stakes in related holding companies of the three Confifi hotels – Club Palm Garden (CPG), Riverina Hotel and Eden - to a consortium led by LOLC and Browns in June.

This consortium now own 52% in Confifi Hotel Holdings (owners and managers of CPG) and 25.5% in Riverina which they bought in late May while in June they bought 23.71% in Eden. Further firming its position in the country’s famed golden mile in southern Beruwela, the company bought a 60% stake in Tropical Villas, a beach resort with 50 luxury villas in Beruwela, through a subsidiary LOLC Leisure in August.

“With the Confifi hotels and this latest acquisition, LOLC has now increased its footprint to over 25 acres of prime beach front land,” the source said, adding that the total acquisition cost of all the hotels is more than Rs 800 million.

"Managing hotels is not our business. We bought these hotels as it was a good investment. We want to have a strategic alliance with a major international partner who will manage it for us,” he added.

He said the deal will be finalized soon-possibly by next month.