UK-based Duet Group has invested $12 million in a five-star upscale hotel project in Hyderabad, through its private equity firm Duet India Hotels Ltd (DIH). The project is being developed at Gachibowli suburb, close to the IT district of the city, at a total investment of $26 million. The company is planning to invest another $25 million soon in a hotel project in Bangalore. The project will house 210 rooms and apart from group's investment, the remaining amount will be infused through debts. The other partner for this project is yet to be finalized.
From its $166.5-million fund, the company has invested $47 million so far in five projects. These projects are located in Jaipur, Pune, Ahmadabad and Indore. The Jaipur project is already operational and is being run in joint venture with Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, under the brand name ‘Four Points’. Pune, Indore and Ahmadabad projects will be operational by September 2010, January and March 2011, respectively. Due diligence for two other projects in Lucknow and Nashik has completed.
Dilip Puri, CEO, Duet India Hotels, said that these would be smaller projects having equity of $3 million each and would be a 100-room, three star properties. He added that they were about to conclude a project at Whitefield in Bengaluru and would invest equity of around USD 25 million. Duet India Hotels has raised the fund from foreign institutional investors, plans to raise more equity for the fund and go for an initial public offering in the next two years. Apart from DIH, Duet Group runs another fund in India called South Asian Real Estate, which has been investing in residential projects.
