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Qatari Diar, which is expected to assume ownership of the hotel
by early next year, is looking to fund an earlier-announced
extension to the hotel that envisages almost doubling the number of
guest rooms.
Last April, Saudi Arabian investment company Kingdom Holding
obtained the nod from the Singapore authorities to redevelop the
hotel's shopping arcade to make space for as many as 78 additional
guest rooms.
Qatari Diar is trying to put a figure on the cost of
refurbishing the hotel and revamping its adjacent retail and
leisure activities, reports The Times of London. The cost is said
to be as high as US$100 million (S$140 million).
Kingdom Holding formerly held a 58.1 per cent stake in Fairmont
Raffles Hotels International (FRHI), which in turn owned Raffles
Hotel, along with about 100 hotels around the world.
But its stake in FRHI was diluted to 35 per cent earlier this
week when Cayman Islands-based Voyager Partners - a private
investment company affiliated to Qatari Diar - acquired new shares
equivalent to 40 per cent of FRHI's capital.
