Tune Hotels may be listed in 2013

Tune Hotels Regional Services Sdn Bhd, the budget hotel chain owned by Tony Fernandes, head of Southeast Asia’s biggest low-cost carrier, may go public in early 2013 to expand its hospitality network, its chief executive officer said.

Tune Hotels, a unit of investment company Tune Group led by Fernandes, aims to have as many as 60 hotels across 10 countries including the U.K. and India by the end of 2012, said Mark Lankester, CEO of the hospitality group. The goal is to operate 100 by 2014, he said.

“We need to raise more capital to invest and continue the brand-growing,” Lankester said in an interview yesterday. “For us to continue growing, the cheapest capital is always going to be public capital. Securing public capital through an IPO makes a lot of sense.”

Fernandes, 46, is aiming to repeat his success with AirAsia Bhd., which was listed in 2004 and overtook national carrier Malaysian Airline System Bhd last year to become the country’s biggest airline by market value. AirAsia’s shares have doubled in the past year, while Malaysian Air has fallen 18 per cent.

AirAsia has said it intends to spin off and list its Thai and Indonesian units this year, while its long-haul associate AirAsia X Sdn Bhd may sell shares in Europe and Asia in 2012.

Tune Group, which Fernandes co-founded with AirAsia’s Deputy CEO Kamarudin Meranun, invested in businesses ranging from hotels, prepaid mobile-phone services to online financial products.

Reinvesting Income

Petaling Jaya-based Tune Hotels, which is profitable, has been reinvesting its income to grow the business, Lankester said, without disclosing its earnings. The company is preparing itself for an initial public offering and has yet to decide which stock exchange it would be listed on.

Tune Hotels has expanded to 12 properties in Malaysia, Indonesia and the U.K. since the opening of its first hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur four years ago. Development deals are signed to add another 90 assets in Southeast Asia, Australia, London and India, Lankester said.

While the company owns most of the hotels currently under operation, it has accelerated the expansion through partnerships and franchise arrangements, he said. Tune Hotels teamed up with U.K.-based investment company Queensway Group Ltd. last year to develop and run 15 properties across in the London area by 2017, and it’s working with Apodis Hospitality Group to invest in 20 Indian hotels, he said.

Fernandes entered the airline business by mortgaging his home and digging into savings to buy then AirAsia for RM1 (33 US cents) in 2001, assuming its debts and two ageing Boeing Co planes. He now has a net worth of US$470 million, according to Forbes magazine, and is also principal of the Lotus F1 Racing team. -- Bloomberg

Malaysia in top 10 'friendliest' countries list

FRANKFURT: Malaysia is considered to be one of the 10 “friendliest” countries of the world, according to a survey conducted by HSBC.

Malaysia is ranked 9th in the list, according to the poll, conducted last year.

Besides the friendliness of the local people, another criterion for judging a country’s friendliness is how simple it is for foreigners to live and integrate themselves in the local environment.

The HSBC poll surveyed over 4,000 people from more than 100 countries between April and June 2010.

Respondents were asked to give answers to questions such as where it is simplest to find local friends, how easy is it to learn the language of a country or adapt to and integrate in its culture.

Eighty per cent of those surveyed said that English was their mother tongue.

Germany, a non-English-speaking country, however, made it to the list -- ranking 10th directly behind Malaysia.

South Africa, ranked 3rd, according to the poll, is “very open” to foreigners who want to live there.

The top 10 friendliest countries of the world, according to the survey, are: 1. Canada, 2. Bermuda, 3. South Africa, 4. United States, 5. Australia, 6. Spain, 7. France, 8. Great Britain, 9. Malaysia and 10. Germany. -- BERNAMA

Hilton hotel to 'crown' RM1.5b Puchong project

The fast-growing district of Puchong in Selangor will welcome a Hilton hotel in 2013, which is part of a RM1.5 billion mixed-development project named Millenia City.

The project, located on a 40.5-hectare site, is being developed by privately-held Millenium Land Sdn Bhd, which shares similar directors as Tanco Bhd.

The group yesterday signed an agreement with international hotel chain, Hilton Worldwide, to manage Hilton Garden Inn Hotel that will target the mid-market business and leisure travellers.

Millennia City, which is set to be the commercial heartbeat of Puchong, will comprise M Square, a 380,000 sq ft self-enclosed six-storey shopping mall that is linked to the 255-room Hilton Garden Inn and a 2.1 million sq ft Street Mall comprising 13 blocks of six-storey retail and office units.

The development will start by the third quarter this year and is targeted for completion by 2013. The company also plans to build high-rise apartment, targeting the high income group.

"From our research, we found that Puchong is currently one of the fastest growing districts in Malaysia in terms of growth especially in three key area - population, monthly household income and commercialisation," said executive director Benjamin Tan in Kuala Lumpur.

Also present at the signing ceremony were tourism minister Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen and Hilton Worldwide senior vice president Middle East and Asia Pacific Andrew Clough.

The primary catchment in Puchong reaches an estimated 420,000 people while its secondary catchment area, some 10 minutes away, reaches some 1.2 million people.

"As such, we believe that the development of Millennia City will be a highly significant project as we foresee it to be a major cornerstone of a modern, trendy and touristy Puchong," said Tan.