Regent Plaza sale to SIUT: PHDL board appoints execs to finalise $52m deal

Pakistan Hotels Developers Limited’s (PHDL) board of directors nominated two executives to finalise the sale of Regent Plaza to Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) Trust.

The development was shared by PHDL in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday.

“This is for your information that the Board of Directors in their meeting dated November 15, 2023 (as empowered by the members in the EOGM held on November 13, 2023) authorized and nominated Muzaffar Baweja, CEO of the company and Zubair Baweja, Managing Director of the company to finalise and execute all necessary documents and sale agreements with M/S SIUT Trust, Karachi in respect of sale of hotel property,” read the notice.

The development comes after the SIUT Trust, last month, expressed its interest in purchasing Karachi’s Regent Plaza, a four-star hotel in the country’s financial hub, for Rs14.5 billion (nearly $52 million).

“This is for the information that the company has received an offer letter of October 09, 2023 received on October 10, 2023 by hand from SIUT in respect of the purchase of Hotel Property (Regent Plaza),” PHDL said in a notice back then.

The SIUT Trust in its letter announced that it has “decided to acquire the property of PHDL referred to as Regent Plaza Hotel at Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi”.

“The SIUT Trust now offers to purchase the said property of any lien or charge for a sum of Rs14.50 billion on ‘as is where is’ basis.

“You are kindly requested to please accept and confirm us with your consent in writing so that a formal Sales Contract can be executed as per the earliest,” read the SIUT letter, urging the PHDL management to share the draft of the sales agreement for the transaction for the review by its legal counsel.

PHDL is engaged in the hotel business and owns and operates hotels known as Regent Plaza Hotel and Convention Centre, Karachi.

SIUT is one of the leading healthcare institutions in Pakistan, providing a range of services, including urology, nephrology, and transplant surgery, and has a strong focus on research and education.