MBD Group, India’s largest education and leading hospitality company and Steigenberger Hotel Group, the largest German chain of hotels and resorts, have announced a joint venture to manage and franchise hotels under the brand “MBD STEIGENBERGER” for the Indian Territory. MBD Group will have a 51% stake while Steigenberger Hotel Group will hold a 49% stake in the joint venture company.
The management of the joint venture company would be in the hands of a joint staffed board of directors and MBD Group would use its expertise in looking after the India wide operations of the brand including business development, management and franchising of hotels, India marketing, pre-opening and post-opening assistance, etc. whilst Steigenberger would be providing international sales and marketing support, training and brand standards to be deployed in the Indian region to suit the expectations of a luxury traveler.
The joint venture would target to open at least 20 hotels in India over the next 15 years with projected annual revenue of hotels under management and/ or franchise of nearly 2000 cr.
MBD Steigenberger brand, in-line with the international positioning of the Steigenberger brand, shall be positioned to target the luxury segment in India, a segment that is expected to grow at an extremely fast pace. The flagship hotel under the JV will be the MBD Zephyr Bangalore – an MBD Steigenberger Hotel located in the heart of Whitefield Bangalore – the silicon city of India offering 184 rooms and 118 service apartments, interpreting luxury in the true sense of the word.
Commenting on the partnership, Ms Sonica Malhotra, Managing Director of the Joint venture and Joint Managing Director of the MBD Group, said, “We are extremely proud to announce our association with Steigenberger Hotel Group. The association will ensure that German excellence joins hands with the warmth of Indian hospitality providing the next level experience to our guests across the country. We will be focusing on key cities in the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa, Kolkata, Pune, Indore, and other cities where we want to come up with Luxury Hotels and cater to the crème de la crème in each city.”
Puneet Chhatwal, CEO, Steigenberger Hotel Group: “We are extremely honored to associate with our appreciated partner MBD and become a part of the Indian hotel landscape. This is an important milestone in our history of international growth. As a company with German roots Steigenberger Hotel Group enjoys a good reputation worldwide. It is the “Germanness” what is associated with precision, reliability and quality all around the globe. Our brand represents excellence, perfection and a wealth of tradition. We are very excited to bring our hospitality to the Indian market.”
Talking about their strategy, Ms. Malhotra further added, “We have been in the hospitality industry for over a decade and have successfully proven ourselves by exuberating excellence in the hospitality performance in Delhi and Punjab both on financial parameters and also overall guest experience. Steigenberger understood our key strengths and also the potential of the Indian hospitality and has accordingly chosen MBD Group as a partner for managing the joint venture in India. MBD Group comes with its key strengths understanding the socio and demographic profile of the country because of our hospitality company and also because of the fact that we are the largest education company in India working across more than 62 locations. Our first property under this joint venture will be the iconic MBD Zephyr – A MBD Steigenberger Hotel in Bangalore exuberating lifestyle, luxury and surprise and after that we will be looking at potential projects either in green field and brown field stage in gateway cities.”
The joint venture will primarily function as a Management Company that will manage the assets under the brand MBD Steigenberger in India and will be headquartered out of MBD’s Corporate Office at Bhadhur Shah Zafar Marg in New Delhi.
