Foreign investor walks out of Nepse-listed Soaltee Hotel

 Though the stable government led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is trying to lure foreign investors, one of the foreign investor walked out of the country selling its shares.

Soaltee Enterprises has bought all the shares from an international company InterContinental Hotels Group to make the Nepse-listed Soaltee Crowne Plaza hotel a complete Nepali entity. Soaltee Enterprises – owned by former King Gyanendra Shah and his family – bought some 8.43 million units of shares at Rs 56.06 per unit totaling Rs 472.34 million worth transaction, according to the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) floor sheet. The shares of the Soaltee Hotels is being traded at Rs 190 per unit at the share market currently. According to the Nepse, the bulk shares transfer took place today through broker 33 and 34.

Along with this purchase of shares from InterContinental Hotels Group, the Soaltee Hotel is now totally owned by only Nepali investors, confirmed one of the oldest five-star hotel in Nepal. The Hong Kong-based InterContinental Hotels Group had 10 per cent stake in Soaltee Hotel.

The shares of Soaltee Hotel that were in the ownership of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) were transferred to Soaltee Enterprises. After the share transfer, Soaltee Enterprises now owns 50 per cent stake in Soaltee hotel, whereas Oberoi Hotels Pvt Ltd holds eight per cent shares, Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) holds 12 per cent shares while the remaining 30 per cent stake is held by the public, as Soaltee Hotel is one of the listed hotels at the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse).

Founded by late prince Himalaya Bir Bikram Shah Dev and late princess Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah in 1965, Soaltee Crowne Plaza was formally inaugurated by late king Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah in 1966 with 104 rooms. But today Soaltee Crowne Plaza hosts 282 luxurious guest rooms and seven regal VVIP suites, spread over 12 acres.

In 1969, the Soaltee hotel was incorporated as a private limited company. Oberoi Hotels (India) Pvt Ltd, with its investment in shares capital, was entrusted with operational management of the hotel and rebranded as ‘Hotel Soaltee Oberoi’ in 1969. 

However, the hotel was converted into a public limited company in 1975 with an investment in the shares capital of the company by Nepal Industrial Development Corporation (NIDC), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Oberoi Hotels (India) Pvt Ltd, Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), promoters and the public. The shares of the hotel was listed at the share market with a face value of Rs 10 per unit.

Likewise, in 1994 the hotel was again renamed Soaltee Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Kathmandu and was operated by Holiday Inns China, a fully owned subsidiary of InterContinental Hotels (IHG).

But in 1998, Soaltee Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza was again rebranded as Soaltee Crowne Plaza Kathmandu.