Ciga 'close' to hotels sale
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Your support makes all the difference.CIGA, the troubled luxury hotels group controlled by the Aga Khan, is thought to be close to selling a chunk of its hotel portfolio in a deal intended to slash its heavy borrowings.
The international group, which has seen its shares savaged on the Milan stock exchange, has debts of almost dollars 700m ( pounds 455m), including rolled-up interest. Its prestigious hotels have been badly hit by the global recession.
Ciga, advised by Goldman Sachs, originally looked at selling individual hotels among its portfolio of 36 across six Continental countries. However, it has failed to attract suitable offers.
There is mounting speculation that an unknown investor is negotiating to buy a percentage of the entire portfolio. Ciga declined to comment.
The restructuring is a further financial blow for the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of more than 12 million Ismaili Shia Muslims. His quoted holding company, Fimpar, is making a loss and Meridiana, his Sardinia-based airline, is also expected to go into the red this year because of abortive plans to set up in Spain.
Ciga (Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi) hotels include the Principe de Savoie in Milan and the Danielli in Venice. The group has already sold the Meurice in Paris and the Europe & Regina in Venice to unnamed buyers, though it has kept the management contracts.
Hotels that could still be sold include the Grand in Rome, which is patronised by visiting heads of state, royalty and pop stars. Ciga refuses to comment except to say that it plans to retain its non- Italian properties.
Ciga, 50.1 per cent controlled by the Aga Khan, has stopped paying interest on its debt, much of it denominated in non-lira currencies; its exposure has worsened sharply since the lira's devaluation and exit from the European exchange rate mechanism in September.
(Photograph omitted)
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