<article>New York-based investment firm <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/tag/berggruen-holdings/">Berggruen Holdings Inc.</a>, which owns the Keys hotel chain in India, plans to invest $30 million (around Rs200 crore) to expand its presence in the country.</article>

New York-based investment firm <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/tag/berggruen-holdings/">Berggruen Holdings Inc.</a>, which owns the Keys hotel chain in India, plans to invest $30 million (around Rs200 crore) to expand its presence in the country.
Berggruen Holdings has so far invested $80 million in Berggruen Hotels Pvt. Ltd, which operates only in India. The company, which runs 21 hotels in India, is also looking to partner other financial investors in the hotel business.
“We are going to invest another $30 million into the company. The investment will start coming in the next quarter. We would also be looking at financial partners who would be interested in coming along with us to scale the platform,” Kabir Kewalramani, managing director, Berggruen Holdings India Ltd, said in an interview.
Founded by American investor and philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen, Berggruen Holdings has businesses in real estate, renewable energy, among others. In India, apart from Keys hotels, it has invested in several real estate and mixed used development projects.
Berggruen Hotels has seen average annual revenue growth of around 24% in the last few years, far exceeding the industry growth of around 14%, Kewalramani said.
“We actually believe that the market is improving, the demand is outstripping supply. We think it is actually a good opportunity to build up the platform a little more aggressive,” he said.
The company has set a target of opening around 8-10 hotels, each with around 60-80 rooms, in the next one year. It currently has around 2,200 rooms across its 21 hotels. Of these, 50% are owned by the company while the rest are either run through management contracts or through franchisees.
Keys wants to grow on an asset-light model, Kewalramani said, adding “the management team needs some fire power to be able to execute those plans.”
As part of the expansion strategy, the company is also looking to strengthen its presence in the vacation or leisure destinations. At present, 70% of its existing hotels cater to the business segment. “The idea over the next three years is to have a hub-and-spoke model where we should be able to cater a business customer staying in one of our hotels for any other accommodation in a different location,” he said. The last two years have seen property developers and private equity (PE) funds slowly returning to the hospitality sector as hotel occupancy improved.
“The last 24 months have been the busiest period for the hotel industry. Funds have been coming in. They are private equity money either from North America or western Europe. Operationally, the sector is looking upwards. Over the next three to four years, demand is likely to outpace supply,” said Achin Khanna, managing director, consulting and valuation (South Asia) at HVS Global Hospitality Services, a hospitality consulting firm.
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US-based investment firm Berggruen Holdings Inc., which owns the Keys hotel chain in India, plans to invest $30 million to expand its presence in India.

US-based investor Berggruen to plough $30m into Keys hotel chain in India

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US-based investor Berggruen to plough $30m into Keys hotel chain in India

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