/ -- Mumbai-based hotel company, Intellistay Hotels Pvt. Ltd. (IHPL), announced a fresh round of equity infusion from promoter group Prama Hotels Pvt. Ltd. (PRAMA).
(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/885234/IntelliStay_Hotels_Logo.jpg)
IntelliStay operates full-service hotels under three Brands: Mango Hotels, i-Stay Hotels and Apodis Collection. IntelliStay last raised an equity round in tranches from Apodis Hotels and Resorts Ltd. (Apodis) who now hold a significant majority stake in IntelliStay Hotels. PRAMA is the promoting company of Apodis. Since 2012, IntelliStay Hotels has signed and opened 23 hotels till March 2019. Another 30 hotels are in the signed and project stage with a target of over 2500 keys operational by March 2020. This puts IntelliStay on the list of top 10 hotel companies in India by number of keys under management.
PRAMA recently completed a strategic round of investment from TripBorn, Inc., an emerging Indian last mile Commerce and Connectivity platform. As part of the deal, PRAMA will use the infusion to drive the businesses of IntelliStay and the other group company, Apodis Foods & Brands Ltd. (AFBL), which provides Food & Beverage services to several popular economy hotel chains across India.
The transaction is expected to add immediate scale to the businesses within India's growing hospitality segment. PRAMA generated approximately USD 8.5 million in revenues from its operating entities for the year ended March 31, 2019 and generated positive cash flow from operations.
"This is a transformational opportunity for our company," commented Deepak Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of TripBorn. "The addition of the PRAMA team and their rapidly scaling hotel platform is a very unique opportunity to serve India's growing market, where over 650 million young population aged between 24 and 35 driving demand for affordable, quality, branded hotel experiences. PRAMA is extremely well positioned as one of the first operators in India to recognize the power and value of an asset-light business model by developing affordable hotel brands that deliver consistent hotel guest experience and quality service at attractive prices."
Mr. Sharma continued, "Our plan is to leverage the TripBorn technology platform to deliver consistent hotel guest experiences and address emerging user categories. We are optimistic that this acquisition could drive hyper revenue growth over the next several years, including the addition of new hotels."
Mahesh Gandhi, a Promoter of PRAMA, said, "Travellers in India are demanding better and consistent hotel experiences that provide quality services and value from recognized brands. Having invested in the Indian hospitality space over the last eight years, along with our investment partners who supported us in building our platform, we have witnessed the hospitality sector in India grow at a sustained and now rapid pace, and expect to see this trend continue for a long time. IntelliStay will continue to add new hotel properties under its hotel brands, as well as convert and re-flag both branded/unbranded properties. We believe the timing is ideal, given India's substantial and expanding consolidation opportunities, as well as the favourable arbitrage between private and public multiples in the space."
He added, "We chose to partner with TripBorn, as we were drawn to their robust long-term India and global strategy, which could help further establish our brand and accelerate our growth. The partnership with TripBorn will help support our reach in over 200 markets within India. We look forward to benefiting from greater access to the U.S. capital markets, in order to speed up our organic growth, as well as our M&A strategy, through accretive acquisitions and value-added partnerships."
Prashanth Rao Aroor, Founder, Managing Director and CEO of IntelliStay Hotels, said, "Part one of our journey from start up to critical mass has happened over the last 6 years. Our ability to move from initial fixed leases of hotels to management contracts and then to hybrid revenue share contracts has given us a large top line for our size of inventory."
Speaking of the journey ahead, Mr. Aroor added, "As we have begun to accrue and grow from profits, PRAMA capitalizing IntelliStay at this time helps us ramp up faster. Of particular interest will be an effort to take the i-Stay Hotels brand, which is in prototype at 5 locations, to prime railway stations, bus transport hubs and the Indian highways, with emphasis on quality food & beverage, backed by service level assurances. Our food and beverage business is over 35% of our revenues, and we will focus on wedding and leisure destinations with the Apodis Collection brand. The Mango Hotels and Mango Hotels SELECT brands are on their way to scale up as highly curated mid-scale boutique hotel brands that localize to each destination. With Mango Suites and Mango Suites SELECT, we have a very versatile long stay product for mixed use developments. All IntelliStay Hotels in India can be booked through our website, http://www.staymango.com. We are now significant in Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Inroads have been made into Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi NCR, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where our first few hotels are opening this financial year. We will continue to grow cluster wise to ensure manageable operating costs and effective supervision with empowered regional teams. We will look to grow inorganically by collaborating with asset light hospitality businesses that bring scale, new skills, diversity of consumer segments and specializations like adventure, camping, backpacking, alternative housing and banquets. We have the management platforms, credibility and now the technology."
About TripBorn, Inc.
TripBorn, Inc. is based out of Maryland, USA and listed on U.S. security exchange. Tripborn operates through its subsidiary in India as a Last Mile Commerce and Connectivity product and services platform, that delivers digital micro services to offline consumers using service agent networks across India through its website, http://www.tripborn.com. Currently, TripBorn operate as a business to business, or B2B, Last Mile Commerce platform that serves small business agents and companies based in India by providing travel and financial services products for their offline customers using its internet-based technology platform.
About PRAMA
PRAMA is engaged in the business of investing in, owning, managing and operating hotels and related activities, such as food services, under the Apodis brand across India. PRAMA, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, APODIS and IntelliStay, owns emerging and leading budget hotel brands including Mango Hotels, Mango Suites, Mango Hotels Select, Mango Suites Select, i-Stay Hotels and Apodis Collection, which are presently spread across 21 cities in India under its IntelliStay Hotels vertical.
About IntelliStay Hotels
IntelliStay Hotels is an integrated hotel management enterprise of Apodis Hotels & Resorts Ltd., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of PRAMA. IntelliStay manages 23 hotels and resorts in India under its brands Mango Hotels, Mango Hotels SELECT, Mango Suites, Mango Suites SELECT, i-Stay Hotels and Apodis Collection. IntelliStay owns and manages food, beverage and entertainment brands MoXa, KalpavriXa, Xcuse, X-cite, X-tra.
Visit IntelliStay Hotels on LinkedIn.
For clarifications, write into pramtrip19@gmail.com.
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