Asset & Resource Management (ARM), Nigeria’s leading asset management and investment firm has announced the successful exit from Oceanwinds Hospitality Limited (OHL), owner of Four Points By Sheraton Lagos Hotel, Oniru, Victoria Island Extension, Lagos.
ARM’s sale of OHL to Westmont International Development Inc., a Canadian based investment firm, is in furtherance of the strategy for its hospitality and retail business, which invests in opportunities within the high growth hospitality and retail sectors in Africa
According to Sade Huges Managing Director, ARM Hospitality & Retail noted that ARM’s exit culminates the full cycle of its investment process further reinforces the company’s belief in the potentials of Africa’s hospitality segment.
“We are pleased to have been a part of this laudable investment in the first Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Africa. Our exit culminates the full cycle of our investment process, and further reinforces our belief in the potentials of Africa’s hospitality segment.”
ARM’s previous investment in the Hospitality sector includes its investment in the Moorhouse Sofitel Hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos (now Hotel Moorhouse M Gallery by Sofitel), which it exited in 2004; and the Oluwole Urban Mall, Lagos, exited in 2012.
ARM initiated and managed the development of the hotel which began operations in 2010, following which ARM provided asset management services which has seen the hotel’s Revenue Generation Index (RGI) consistently rank among the top two in its competitive set.
Investors are scrambling for space in Nigeria’s Hospitality Sector
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., operators of the popular and luxury global hospitality group Hilton Hotels, recently opened a new hotel at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), named Legend Lagos Airport Hotel. The new hotel is Hilton’s first presence in Lagos and the second in the whole of Nigeria. Hilton Group also has plans to open many more hotels across Africa, specifically in places like Ghana, Uganda, and Malawi.
Hilton is not the only investor that is steadily positioning its presence in Nigerian and other African countries. According to Reuters, such hotel brands such as Marriott International, Hyatt Hotels and Radisson Hospitality have been clamouring for space in countries like Nigeria where the middle class keeps rising. Radisson’s Senior Vice President, Mr. Andrew McLachlan, recently disclosed ongoing plans to establish about ten new hotels across the continent