Royal Orchid group on expansion drive

Bangalore: The Bangalore-based Royal Orchid group, a leading hospitality chain in South India, has signed an MoU with Maruti Comforts and Inns Private Limited to acquire a 50-room luxury resort, the Dominion Club, on the outskirts of Bangalore. The company will purchase a 51-per cent equity share in Maruti Comforts, the owners of the property situated on Bellary Road, Yelahanka.

The Royal Orchid group has also signed two other MoUs with Hyderabad and Pune hoteliers to run two premium business hotels in both the cities. The Hyderabad hotel will be a 72-room property and will commence operations in October 2006. This hotel will be operated by Royal Orchid Hyderabad Private Limited, a subsidiary specifically floated by the group for this.

The chairman and managing director of the Royal Orchid group, Chander Baljee, said that the boutique hotel at Hyderabad's Banjara Hills would target the premium business segment.

The group has also finalised its entry into the Pune market where it proposes to run a 100-room hotel, located in the key business area of Kalyani Nagar. This hotel too will commence operations in October 2006 and will cater to the premium business segment. An MoU has already been signed for the purpose with the Pune-based Just Homes Associates.

The Royal Orchid group has also earmarked a sum of Rs10-crore for the renovation of its three existing hotels in Bangalore - the five-star Hotel Royal Orchid, the four-star Royal Orchid Central and the three-star Royal Orchid Harsha. According to Baljee, the renovations and upgradations of the three hotels will be completed within the next six months.

The group is currently in the midst of finalising its Rs100-crore public issue slated for mid-November, for which it will file its prospectus with SEBI by the first week of October.