Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the government’s investment arm, is said to have bought ultra-luxury resort chain Amanresorts from India’s largest real estate company DLF.

The Economic Times of India reported that Khazanah may pay between US$300 million to US$350 million (RM981 million to RM1.14 billion) for the 97 per cent stake owned by DLF.

The remaining 3 per cent is owned by Indonesian hotelier and founder of Amanresorts, Adrian Zecha.

Adrian Zecha is also the founder of General Hotel Management (GHM), which in Malaysia manages The Datai in Langkawi and The Chedi chain elsewhere.

Khazanah in a statement issued to Bernama yesterday said that Khazanah and its related companies are in talks with various parties, including Amanresorts, on possible projects.

However, it added that an article in the press on “Khazanah to buy major stake in Amanresorts” was purely speculative and misleading. “Khazanah as a principle does not comment on speculation,” it said.

The press article, which quoted people familiar with the matter, said DLF is being advised by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. DLF’s spokesperson also said that it was not able to comment on market speculation.

In 2007, Khazanah entered into heads of agreement that included Amanresorts Ltd to develop an Amanresort in the Iskandar Development Region.

It was stated that the resort will be the first hotel that Amanresorts will be designing, building and operating in Malaysia and the property was expected to be completed some time in 2009. However, it is understood that the property is not ready.

Since then, talk has emerged that an Amanresort may be located in Desaru, Johor. Khazanah spokesperson Asuki declined to comment on this, stating that it was speculation.

According to Amanresorts’ website, it owns and manages 24 small luxury resorts worldwide. Its first flagship resort Amanpuri opened in Phuket in 1988.

Amanresorts has resorts in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, France, Indonesia, the Philippines and the US, to name a few.

It was reported that DLF in May had stated it is looking to sell Amanresorts to cut its debt. However, the report in India pointed out that Amanresort’s New Delhi property may not be part of the deal.

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