QG Africa Hotel Buys Lusaka’s InterContinental Hotel For US$35.9M

By Paul Shalala Front view of the InterContinental Hotel in Lusaka QG Africa Hotel LP, a Mauritius-based fund managed by QG Investments Africa Management Ltd, has bought the InterContinental Hotel in Lusaka. The hotel, which is widely considered a city landmark and the best hotel in Lusaka, was previously owned by Kingdom Hotel Investments who bought the hotel in 1996. Kingdom Investments is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Saudi conglomerate Kingdom Holding Company chaired by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. QG Africa Hotel LP has bought the multi-storey hotel at a gross consideration of USD 35.9 million. The transaction is believed to have been completed on 31 March 2016. InterContinental Hotel Lusaka is situated at a prime location, surrounded by government ministries, embassies and high cost residential areas in Longacres area of Lusaka . The 244-room hotel benefits from a strong image amongst international travellers and offers significant repositioning and expansion potential. Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, Founder of Quantum Global says the hotel will soon be refurbished and and expanded. “I’m very pleased with this first acquisition of QG Africa Hotel LP. It underlines our commitment and investment strategy for the hotel sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. The InterContinental Lusaka is strongly established locally and will benefit from the planned refurbishment that will expand and reposition the asset, thereby generating value added returns for our investors,” said de Morais in a statement. According to analysts, strong economic growth supported by a more transparent and relatively stable political climate has been attracting an increasing number of international business travellers to Africa, while also boosting cross-regional business traveling. According to a statement from the African Press Organisation, QG Africa is a member of the Quantum Global group. It is a USD 500 million investment vehicle, which aims to capitalize on the emerging opportunities in the hospitality sector.