Red Planet Hotels Limited, Asia’s emerging force in low cost hotel development and operation, has invested in a 16.05% stake in the rapidly expanding Tune Hotels operation as both companies seek to grow the booming low cost hotel brand.
The deal cements Red Planet Hotels – who is a major franchisee of the brand across South-East Asia – as the third largest investor in Tune Hotels with 9,975,038 shares, providing further value to Red Planet Hotel’s shareholders.
Tim Hansing.
The largest shareholder in Tune Hotels remains Tony Fernandes, founder of the phenomenally successful Tune and Air Asia brands.
This major investment also results in Red Planet Hotels invited to take up a seat on the board of directors, enabling Red Planet Hotels to be actively involved in the future of one of the world’s fastest growing hospitality concerns.
While the value of the deal remains undisclosed it is a “significant multi-million dollar transaction” and the largest single corporate investment Red Planet Hotels has clinched in its two-year history.
The investment in Tune Hotels comes at a time when Red Planet Hotels’ latest round of fund raising was over-subscribed and the company now has USD180 million of hotel projects (containing 3,191 rooms) either operating or under construction in Asia.
Red Planet Hotels Chief Executive Officer, Tim Hansing, said the investment represented Red Planet Hotel’s pledge to the brand and the founding members’ vision for the Tune Hotels concept.
“This significant investment and commitment to the Tune Hotels brand is indicative of Red Planet Hotels’ well-balanced long-term development programme and provides tremendous value growth to our existing shareholders,” Mr. Hansing said.
“As we move towards becoming a major owner and operator of Tune Hotels properties, this investment and endorsement of Tune’s board and management allows Red Planet Hotels to participate and contribute constructively and meaningfully for the benefit of both companies.
The Tune Hotel Pattaya. (Photo/Tune Hotels)
“Each will reap significant rewards through our investment and I am delighted that Red Planet Hotels’ commitment to Tune Hotels has resulted in us being invited to join its board.”
Tune Hotels has quickly established itself as the leading player in the low cost hotel space just as Air Asia did in the low cost airline industry.
Established in 2007, currently there are 24 Tune Hotels operating 3,859 rooms globally.
There is a confirmed additional pipeline of 38 more hotels with 10,106 rooms, including the first hotels in India, Scotland, Australia and Saudi Arabia along with additional properties in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and England.
By the end of 2012 Red Planet Hotels will have 10 operating hotels with 1,623 rooms in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Last month, it opened the first Tune Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia (168 rooms) and a fourth in the Philippines in Makati (215 rooms).
Later this year, Red Planet Hotels will open a Tune hotel in Asoke, Bangkok (130 rooms – September), Pekanbaru, Sumatra (143 rooms – December), and Patong, Phuket (150 rooms – December).
Red Planet Hotels is exploring closer levels of co-operation with Tune Hotels across various platforms in the near future in a sign of its commitment to each other’s goals in the low cost hotel sector.
Red Planet Hotels Limited (RPHL) was formed in 2010 and is a privately owned regional hotel investment company focused on Asia’s emerging markets by developing a portfolio of budget hotels in China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Bangladesh.
RPHL owns the hotels it operates and they are all managed under a franchise agreement with Tune Hotels. RPHL was formed with a vision to capture the growth in the worldwide limited-service hotel market, supported by the growth in budget airlines and the robust economy of the ASEAN region and China.
Headquartered in Bangkok, RPHL now has 3,191 Tune Hotel rooms under development or in operation.
