To develop and manage hotels in Maldives and Sri Lanka : Browns Investments in US$ 150 m agreement with Spain’s Barceló Group | Sunday Observer

To develop and manage hotels in Maldives and Sri Lanka : Browns Investments in US$ 150 m agreement with Spain’s Barceló Group

10 November, 2019
Chief Executive Officer of Barceló Hotel Group, Raúl González exchanges the MoU with Deputy Chairman, LOLC Group and Chairman, Browns Group, Ishara Nanayakkara.
Chief Executive Officer of Barceló Hotel Group, Raúl González exchanges the MoU with Deputy Chairman, LOLC Group and Chairman, Browns Group, Ishara Nanayakkara.

LOLC Group’s subsidiary company, Browns Investments PLC last week signed an agreement with the Barceló Hotel Group to develop a three hotels complex in North Male’ Atoll, Maldives, and to manage five leisure properties of Browns Hotels and Resorts in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

With the signing of their latest management agreement with Browns Investments, Barceló Group will make its maiden entry into Asia through Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Barceló will join Browns Investments in developing three 5star hotels (with 470 keys) in North Male Atoll, with an investment of USD 30 Mn for a stake of 33.33% shares of Bodufaru Beach Resorts Ltd. The total value of the development will be USD 150 Mn.

Barceló will be the operator for these properties under Bodufaru, the property currently under construction Bodufinolhu with 100 rooms in the South Ari Atoll, and Nasandhura Palace in Maldives, the most sought-after real estate in Male. In Sri Lanka, Barceló will be the operator for the five-star property in the southern coast, The Eden Resort and Spa (158 keys) and The Paradise Resort and Spa holding 67 Eco-villas in Dambulla. The signing ceremony was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka between the Deputy Chairman of the LOLC Group and Chairman, Browns Group, Ishara Nanayakkara and Chief Executive Officer of Barceló Hotel Group, Raúl González.

Ishara Nanayakkara said, “We are extremely pleased to be joining with The Barceló Hotel Group, a world renowned hotel chain, and extend our gratitude for their confidence in choosing the LOLC Group as their partners, in this their first venture into the Asian region. We believe this historic venture will bring great synergies for the LOLC Group’s Leisure business, particularly as we commence with this unique leisure property in North Male’ valued at USD 150 mn.”

CEO of Barceló Hotel Group EMEA, Raúl González said, “Entry into the Global Tourist Hotspots of Sri Lanka and the Maldives has always been a part of our long-term Strategic Geographic expansion plan. However, entering such a new region comes with risks which are unknown to us.

“Therefore, it was important for us to enter the region with the right partner and LOLC backed Browns Hotels & Resorts was to us the best fit. Not only were we impressed with the quality of the portfolio and the scale they offered to us in the region but also their proactive attitude towards the search for the best agreement considering the interests of both parties and expectations of joint growth in the region,” he said.

Barceló Hotel Group, founded in Palma de Mallorca (Spain) 88 years ago and still run as a family business, operates 247 hotels in 21 countries. 

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