The directors of Far East Consortium said previously the share price of Dorsett had not reflected the values and fundamentals of Dorsett. The move has provided independent Dorsett shareholders with the opportunity to exit their shareholdings.
All the hotels in the group will be rebranded to Dorsett. Photo Credit: Dorsett Hospitality International
Far East Consortium International, a public-listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has privatised its hotel arm, Dorsett Hospitality International.
The directors of Far East Consortium said previously the share price of Dorsett had not reflected the values and fundamentals of Dorsett. The move has provided independent Dorsett shareholders with the opportunity to exit their shareholdings.
The transaction, which was completed on October 16, would not have any impact on the operations and the marketing of the hotel group, said Philip Schaetz, Dorsett’s senior vice president of sales & marketing.
He said the deal was more of a financial arrangement and would have no effect on Dorsett’s ongoing mission to bring the hotel group’s Asian hospitality to the world.
We’re a fast-growing company and our credo is all about speed. Brand awareness is all about scale and being a private company, we can move faster and be more nimble in acquiring assets.”
Dorsett, which started life as Kosmopolito Hotels International, is asset-rich and currently owns and operates 21 hotels and six in the pipeline spread across key Asian cities and the UK, giving the group a total inventory of 8,190 rooms.
The six new hotels are three in Malaysia – Dorsett Putrajaya opening December 2015, Dorsett Hartamas in 2016, Sri Jati Hotel in 2016; Silka Tsuen Wan Hong Kong in 2016; Dorsett Zhongshan China in 2017; and Dorsett City London in 2016.
Schaetz said it was not easy to market the brand “Kosmopolito” as an authentic Asian hospitality brand as it was often perceived as a Russian company.
Schaetz said the Dorsett brand made sense for the group since it already had properties carrying the Dorsett name.
“The name Dorsett also resonates with the English county of Dorset in the UK, and as we were marketing our hotels as offering a mixture of authentic Asian hospitality with British heritage, the name fits into what our hotels are about,” added Schaetz.
So in 2012, Kosmopolito officially rebranded to Dorsett and was launched at ITB Asia in Singapore that year.
“Now we are rebranding all the hotels in our group to just Dorsett,” said Schaetz.
Cosmopolitan Hotel in Hong Kong is undergoing renovations and will be rebranded as Dorsett Wan Chai in Q1, 2016, and Dorsett Regency in Kuala Lumpur will also be rebranded as Dorsett Kuala Lumpur.