Sarova Hotels To List On Stock Market

By Allan Rotich Posted 07 April 2006 @ 11:45 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Nairobi (IBTimes.com) - The Sarova Hotels Group is planning to list on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) and build new hotels in Uganda and Tanzania, a company official told an Ugandan newspaper.

While announcing the development, acting general manager of Sarova Stanley Hotel, James Gituanja, declined to disclose further details of the programme.

"We are planning to list on the Nairobi Stock Exchange through which we shall raise funds to build modern hotels in East Africa," Gituanja said.

The Sarova Group owns six properties in Kenya, including Sarova Whitesands, Sarova PanAfric, The Sarova Stanley, Sarova Mara, Sarova Lion Hill and Sarova Shaba.

In announcing the new move, Sarova is following the footsteps of the Serena Group, which is not only listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, but recently formed a larger entity, the Tourist Promotion Services Eastern Africa Limited (TPSEAL), to enable East Africans get an opportunity of buying in the company.

"The hotels we shall build will also be listed on the local stock exchanges so that they can raise funds for extension programmes," Gituanja told Ugandan tour operators who were visiting the group's facilities in Nairobi and Mombasa.