The Hindu Business Line : Orange County plans pvt equity route for funding

Bangalore, Sept. 25 Orange County Resorts & Hotels Ltd plans to use the private equity route to fund its new resorts in Hampi and Bangalore and intends raising at least Rs 50 crore for these projects with a likely equity dilution of about 10 per cent.

The company, which announced the opening of its second resort at Kabini, about 220 km from here, on Tuesday, plans to launch its Hampi and Bangalore resorts in two years with an investment of Rs 100 crore.

It has acquired 27 acres in Hampi and 22 acres in Kengeri near here. The five-star leisure-cum-business property in Bangalore will have 60-80 rooms, while the Hampi resort would have 62 rooms.

Other properties

The company also plans resorts in Karwar (60-70 rooms) and one outside Karnataka (Kerala or Goa), with a total investment of Rs 100 crore. It has acquired 27 acres in Kumarakom, Kerala, and is acquiring land in Karwar.

Mr Abe T. Ramapuram, Managing Director, said that the group would tap the IPO market in the next 2-3 years, and hopes to raise about Rs 100 crore, with a likely 20 per cent equity dilution.

Kabini’s features

The 17-acre Kabini resort has been built with an investment of Rs 20 crore. Inspired in design by the mud-walled Hadis (village) of the Kadu Kurumba tribe, it offers two kinds of suites – Pool Huts and Jacuzzi Huts.

Pool Huts offer tourists a private space of 2,332 sq ft, inclusive of a private pool with a built-in Jacuzzi in an open-to-sky courtyard. Jacuzzi Huts offers a private space of 1,233 sq ft, including a private Jacuzzi. The average room rate here would be Rs 17,000 per night, and the top-end could go up to Rs 21,000.

The resort will have eco-friendly features such as a reverse osmosis plant in every room (which would help do away with about 50,000 plastic bottles per year), sewage treatment plant, and a windmill that would take care of the resort’s power requirement. The company hopes that the resort would break even next year, and also see profits.

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