HBI Staff | Hyderabad 
According to The Hindu, hospitality firm Viceroy Hotels, the owner of Marriott and Courtyard by Marriott hotels in Hyderabad, is considering the acquisition of distressed hotel assets as part of its expansion plans.
Managing Director K. Ravinder Reddy stated, “The company is looking to expand its assets across the country with strategic acquisitions of distressed hotel assets,” in a release, announcing the resumption of trading of Viceroy Hotels shares on BSE and NSE on April 3. The company recently emerged from its corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), with Anirudh Agro Farms (AAFL) as the successful resolution applicant.
Reddy expressed the company’s optimism about the hotel landscape, citing strong demand and an increase in domestic travel. He expected the industry and its ARRs (average room rates) to grow significantly. The hotel industry has experienced a boom for the past two years due to the post-Covid business travel and tourism revival. ARRs and occupancies are at record levels, and the industry anticipates this trend to continue in the foreseeable future, with demand outpacing supply addition.
Regarding the resumption of trading of shares on the two stock exchanges, the company stated that equity shares of Viceroy Hotels were suspended and not available for trading due to the scheme of reduction of equity share capital effective from October 20, 2023, to April 2, 2024.
The CIRP concluded with NCLAT Chennai Bench passing an order on October 6, 2023, approving the resolution plan submitted by AAFL. Viceroy Hotels, in a filing on January 6, informed the exchanges that all payments proposed to be made under the resolution plan have been duly made by Loko Hospitality, a subsidiary of AAFL.
