The Hindu Business Line : Panoramic Universal to focus on budget hotels

Panoramic Universal Ltd is poised to make a splash in the Indian hotel industry. The flagship company of the Panoramic group plans to acquire 20 properties in the country over the next three years as part of a total investment of Rs 1,000 crore in the hospitality sector.

Panoramic currently owns and operates three hotels in India (Goa, Shirdi and Malvan), one in New Zealand and five in the US. They also own the Pancard Clubs in Baner Hils, Pune.

The Mumbai-based company is currently negotiating for properties in Shimla (cost Rs 18-20 crore), and Hyderabad. The funds for these properties will be raised through global depositary routes (GDR). The company is raising $15 million through GDRs and the draft prospectus has been filed with the Bombay Stock Exchange for obtaining in-principle agreement approval to list the ordinary shares issued under the GDR. The shares are proposed to be listed on the Luxembourg Stock exchange.

Avenues to fund the rest of the expansion are still being explored.

"We will be coming out with (other) fund raising plans," Mr Utpal Parekh, Vice-President, Finance, told Business Line. "Some special purpose vehicles, some joint ventures, some takeovers. We may even go for a big FCCB issue. Right now, we are at 74.4 per cent stake. Post GDR, our stake will come down to 63 or 64 per cent."

Property evaluation

Panoramic is currently evaluating properties in Kochi, Kerala, Chennai, Rajasthan and Delhi. Only 20 per cent of the properties being acquired will be new properties, while 80 per cent will be existing operations.

The budget hotel segment is their primary focus, but the company plans to have a few five-star hotels as well in order to build their image.

They anticipate adding 2,000 to 3,000 rooms to the company in the budget segment in India, and another 500 rooms in the five-star segment by the end of their acquisition spree.

Budget hotels

The budget hotels will be marketed under the "United Inn" brand, the same brand the company uses to market its five US hotels. The Thane property, scheduled to open in October 2007, will be the first United Inn property in India. Panoramic also plans to buy two hotels in the US by March 2007.

The US acquisitions will be funded through internal accruals. Panoramic posted a turnover of Rs 34.72 crore for the quarter ended September 2006, up 69.62 per cent over the same quarter last year, while its net profit rose 98 per cent to Rs 8.91 crore.

More Stories on : Outlook | New Projects | Hotels

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
NTPC to raise $500 m from US market

`Tata Steel must soon top CSN counter bid for Corus'

Ratan Tata came to know of it at The Times, London

Volkswagen to set up facility in Maharashtra

TCL to unveil investment plans next week

Jindal Steel facing water hurdle in Bengal

Haworth research base in Pune

Hightemp Furnaces opens new unit

ONGC allots 1:2 bonus

Panoramic Universal to focus on budget hotels

Uma Precision to expand presence in US, Australia