4| INFORMANTÉ
NEWS
14 November - 20 November 2013
Marriott to buy Protea Hotels
Augetto Graig
Global hotel giant Marriott International has signed a letter of intent to buy Protea Hotels, that operates or franchises 116 properties
on the continent, including five in
Namibia.
Protea Hotels Fürstenhof, Walvis
Bay, Pelican Bay, Ondangwa, and
Zambezi River Lodge are all included in the deal.
The deal is likely to make Marriott the biggest hotel firm in Africa,
an increasingly competitive market
for global operators. “The development cycle for opening new hotels
in Africa is typically long, due to the
challenges posed by emerging infrastructure,” Alex Kyriakidis, Marriott
International’s president for the Middle East and Africa said. “Joining
forces with Protea Hotels and their
highly respected management team is
the strongest way to jumpstart Mar-
riott’s footprint in Africa,” he said.
Marriott said that it hoped to close
the deal to buy Protea Hotels by the
first quarter of next year. The proposed value of the deal has not yet
been made public.
Protea Hotels, which is owned by
the Protea Hospitality Group, encompasses three separate brands, with 80
properties in South Africa, and further hotels in Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
The deal will nearly double Marriott’s presence in Africa, to more than
23 000 rooms.
As part of the transaction, Protea
Hospitality Holdings would create a property ownership company
to retain ownership of the hotels it
currently owns, and enter into longterm management and lease agreements with Marriott for these hotels. It would also retain a number
of minority interests in other Protea
managed hotels. At closing Marriott
would manage approximately 46%
of the rooms, franchise
approximately 40% of
the rooms, and lease approximately 14% of the
rooms.
Arne
Sorenson,
president and chief executive officer of Marriott International, said,
“Africa has significant
untapped potential for
travel and tourism, both
as a destination and
source of new global
travellers. The continent’s GDP is anticipated to grow at over 5%
annually over the next
several years, which we
expect will raise more
people into the emerging middle class. With
the Protea Hotels acquisition, our expanded
footprint should allow
us to become the first
choice of Africa’s rap-
idly growing population of young, sophisticated travellers.”
The otherwise nonbinding letter of intent
includes provisions that
the parties will negotiate exclusively with
each other.
FOR SALE: Marriot International intends to buy Protea Hotels, including the historic Fürstenhof in the heart of Windhoek City.
Photo: proteahotels.com
Dairy producers Woolworths buys franchises back
blame drought
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
THE Dairy Producers Association (DPA) explains that
the high price and shortage
of fodder are major factors
that contribute to the current cost of dairy production in Namibia, as it has a
ripple effect on the entire
value chain.
The DPA was reacting to
complaints about the current
soaring milk price in Namibia. Japie Engelbrecht, chairman of the DPA said that the
current drought significantly
impacts on the cost of producing raw milk in Namibia.
“Even with the increased production costs, Namibian producers have not negotiated
for an increase in the price of
raw milk. Instead, Namibian
dairy producers took a major
price decrease from April to
June 2013 in order to survive
the uneven playing field for
competition,” he said.
He said that this is further
compounded by the fact that
Namibian producers are not
allowed to utilise antibiotics like Rumensin, or growth
hormones like rBST to artificially increase feed conversion ratios, resulting in higher
milk production volumes.
Support measures recently
implemented by the government could not have come
at a better time, to help alleviate the current dilemma in
the dairy industry, he said. In
September import quota controls were instituted. According to Engelbrecht, “while
we are extremely grateful for
the support measures government has implemented, the
dairy industry dilemma is far
from over, as we remain under pressure, and appeal to
consumers for their on-going
support. I also appeal to all
role players to assist in the
efficient implementation of
government measures, and
thereby ensure competitive
behaviour within the dairy industry,” he said.
Engelbrecht advised that
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