The Hindu Business Line : EIH terminates 15-year branding deal with Hilton

Mr P.R.S. Oberoi (left), Chairman, and Mr Vikram Oberoi, Joint Managing Director, EIH Ltd, talking to mediapersons after the 58th annual general meeting of the company in Kolkata on Thursday.

Our Bureau

Kolkata, Aug. 14 EIH on Thursday said that it has prematurely terminated its 15-year co-branding agreement with Hilton and decided to link all new-owned properties with the Trident brand under EIH Associated, a subsidiary.

Mr P. R. S. Oberoi, Chairman of EIH, said at the 58th AGM here that the strategic alliance with Hilton International for marketing and co-branding of Trident hotels in India ceased on March 31, after completion of four years.

The co-branding deal with Hilton entailed management of eight hotels and Hilton UK, (now Hilton Corporation), was to market these hotels internationally and lend its brand name to the Trident group of hotels. Hilton was entitled to a franchise fee, varying between 3 and 5 per cent of the gross room revenue.

All Trident Hilton hotels have now been re-branded as Trident hotels.

Consolidation

Later at a press conference, Mr Oberoi explained that Oberoi group was planning to consolidate Trident and Oberoi brand under EIH Associated Hotels and EIH Ltd. Currently, six Trident properties are running under EIH Associated and one is under EIH.

Mr Oberoi said that all the new owned properties under Trident brand would come under EIH Associated. This implied that the upcoming Bandra-Kurla project with the Trident brand might go to EIH Associated.

‘Distinctive brand identity’

“We are projecting Oberoi as a five-star deluxe brand and Trident as five-star brand. We need to have distinctive brand identity for these two,” he said. The group would take the Trident brand overseas in future. “The first overseas Trident venture could be in Middle-East. But, we are yet to finalise this,” he added.

Fresh investments

He added that the group would build two properties under the Oberoi brand in Bangalore and Goa with an estimated investment of Rs 650 crore in the next two to three years. All the other projects will be either joint ventures or management contracts where our investment will be not more than Rs 70 crore. Oberoi group is setting up three hotels through joint venture route in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Marrakech in Morocco.

The EIH Chairman also made it clear that promoters would continue to increase stake in EIH from the present 46.37 per cent to 50 per cent and above through creeping acquisition.