Samana Global Business Solutions, a diversified business group based in Kerala, India, reportedly is in talks with an Oman-based hospitality company to acquire a hotel in the sultanate.
Sabith Koramba, group executive director of Samana, told Arabian Business that the group has received a proposal from an Oman-based hotel for a possible acquisition, but the talks are still in the early stages and no numbers have been discussed.
Samana already operates a 100-room hotel in the Saudi capital Riyadh and a property in Trivandrum, India, under its Apollo Dimora brand, and has three other hotels coming up in Calicut, Chennai and Bangalore. The company reportedly also is in talks with the developers of a Makkah- and Madina-based hotel to operate and manage the property, and is eyeing hotels across the UAE. Koramba noted, however, that Samana has not yet decided if it will partner with a local UAE business or introduce the brand through management contracts.
“We currently have a total of about 400 rooms in our hotel business and we have set a target of increasing it to 1,000 rooms by 2020,” Koramba said.
A major chunk of the financing required for the proposed expansion plans in the group’s hospitality business is expected to come from the proceeds of the $560-million Alternative Investment Fund, launched by Samana last month in India and Abu Dhabi.