Formosa International Hotels Corp (FIHC, 晶華國際酒店集團), the nation’s largest listed hotel operator, beat more than 20 other global hotel operators with its successful acquisition of the “Regent” luxury hotel business for an estimated US$56 million.
The move paves the way for FIHC’s global expansion and makes it Taiwan’s first hotel operator to own an international hotel brand.
“Our mission is to build Regent into the most admired luxury hotel brand in the world, exceeding even the high expectations of Regent’s [previous] owners and guests,” FIHC chairman Steven Pan (潘思亮) said in a statement yesterday.
FIHC said it had entered into a definitive agreement with the US-based Carlson, a privately held, global hospitality and travel company, as well as Belgium’s Rezidor Hotel Group AB.
The acquisition by FIHC includes the sale of the global Regent brand and all associated intellectual property, hotel management and lease contracts for 17 hotel properties in operation and under development, as well as the Regent Seven Seas Cruises license, the statement said.
The master purchase agreement for the transaction includes customary conditions, which are expected to be fulfilled within the next month, it said.
The Regent brand is owned by Carlson, which also runs T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants and globally operates and licenses the Regent brand, including hotels, residences and cruise ships.
In 2003, Carlson expanded its relationship with Rezidor under a separate master franchise agreement to include the development rights for Regent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
FIHC is the owner of the Grand Formosa Regent Taipei (晶華酒店), which was opened 20 years ago on Zhongshan N Road by Regent’s founders.
According to the statement, future Regent hotels will be based on the concept of mixed-use, lifestyle development that encompasses the finest hospitality, residential and commercial components in prime urban and resort locations.
Regent plans to return to gateway cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, New York, Beverly Hills, London, Paris and Sydney. Pipeline hotels include projects in Abu Dhabi, Bali, Bangkok, Doha, Dubrovnik, Gurgaon, Kuala Lumpur and Phuket, as well as the Maldives and Puerto Rico, the statement said.
“We are confident that Regent will thrive under the direction of FIHC,” Carlson president and CEO Hubert Joly said in the press release. “The company’s thorough knowledge of the brand and access to capital are vital to the continued development of this tremendous luxury brand.”
“After a careful consideration, we came to the conclusion that FIHC provided an excellent fit to Regent’s future. It is exclusively focused on the luxury hotel segment, and committed to growing the brand internationally,” Rezidor Hotel Group president and CEO Kurt Ritter said.
Shares of Formosa International Hotels fell 0.8 percent to NT$370 yesterday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The stock has declined 9.87 percent so far this year, compared with the benchmark index’s 0.93 percent fall.
The popular Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) arbitrage trade might soon see a change in dynamics that could affect the trading of the US listing versus the local one. And for anyone who wants to monetize the elevated premium, Goldman Sachs Group Inc highlights potential trades. A note from the bank’s sales desk published on Friday said that demand for TSMC’s Taipei-traded stock could rise as Taiwan’s regulator is considering an amendment to local exchange-traded funds’ (ETFs) ownership. The changes, which could come in the first half of this year, could push up the current 30 percent single-stock weight limit
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
‘SACRED MOUNTAIN’: The chipmaker can form joint ventures abroad, except in China, but like other firms, it needs government approval for large investments Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) needs government permission for any overseas joint ventures (JVs), but there are no restrictions on making the most advanced chips overseas other than for China, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. US media have said that TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp, has been in talks for a stake in Intel Corp. Neither company has confirmed the talks, but US President Donald Trump has accused Taiwan of taking away the US’ semiconductor business and said he wants the industry back
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
RSS