In a landmark tie-up, DB Hospitality Private Limited has signed an agreement with Hyatt International for expansion of its portfolio of hotel assets in the country.

Spearheaded by Vinod Goenka as Chairman and Managing Director, DB Hospitality is developing The Grand Hyatt Goa, The Grand Hyatt Pune and The Park Hyatt Mumbai-Iconic India tower housing a hotel and serviced apartments, apart from the Hyatt Place at Mundra in Gujarat and Hinjewadi in Pune.

We plan to have a minimum of 12 properties by 2014. We plan to set up nine more hotels by then at a total investment of over Rs 5,500 crore, DB Hospitality’s CEO Julian Groom said.

This agreement will enable DB Hospitality to enhance its pan-India footprint along with globally reputed hotel management chains as we are poised to become one of the largest bedroom asset owners in India by 2014, Groom said.

Headquartered in Mumbai, DB Group is a leading diversified business group with businesses in the hotel, real estate, telecommunication, infrastructure and other industries.

The company has three properties – Le Royal Meridien in Mumbai, LeMeridien in Ahmedabad and one property in Rajasthan, currently shut down for refurbishment.

Groom said the company has tied-up with Hyatt International to set up five hotels Park Hyatt 125-storeyed iconic India tower in Mumbai, Grand Hyatt in Goa and Pune, Hyatt Place in Hinjewadi, Pune and Hyatt Place in Mundra, Gujarat. Besides, the company is setting up four hotels in Delhi hospitality district, expected to be ready by end-2013.

The company is eyeing private equity investment to part-fund its expansion and is already in talks with a few firms, he said, without disclosing further details.

We will fund the remaining requirements through internal accruals and bank-loans, Groom said. The investment in the Mumbai property will be around Rs 2,500 crore while that in Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Place, both in Pune, will be around Rs 340 crore and Rs 70 crore, respectively.

The Grand Hyatt in Goa will entail an investment of around Rs 380 crore while that in Hyatt Place (Mundra) around Rs 70 crore, he said.

The remaining has been earmarked for its Delhi property development. DB Hospitality has tie-ups with Starwood for its Meridien properties, Japan Nikko for the first of its Delhi hotels and with Welcome Heritage for its Rajasthan property.

The company was also looking to expand its footprint in the south, and Bangalore appears a bright prospect, Groom said.

With the worst of the economic slowdown behind us, Groom expected the hospitality sector to perk-up and occupancy rates to rise.

The two Meridiens have clocked a higher occupancy than the previous year and in the last quarter CY 2009, we expect our occupancy levels to be in the high 80s or low-90s, he said.

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