Germany’s Steigenberger Hotel Group has announced a partnership with Indian education services giant MBD Group to manage and franchise some 20 hotels in India over the next 15 years under the MBD Steigenberger brand.
MBD Group will have a 51% stake, while Steigenberger Hotel Group will hold a 49% stake in the joint venture. MBD Group will look after the India-wide operations including business development, management and franchising of hotels, India marketing, pre-opening and post-opening assistance. Steigenberger will provide international sales and marketing support and training, as well as the brand standards to be deployed in the Indian region to suit the expectations of a luxury traveler.
Projected annual revenue of hotels under management and/or franchise is nearly 2000 cr.
MBD Steigenberger brand, in line with the international positioning of the Steigenberger brand, will target the luxury segment in India. The flagship hotel under the JV will be the MBD Zephyr Bangalore, located in the heart of Whitefield Bangalore – the silicon city of India – offering 184 rooms and 118 service apartments.
“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,” said Sonica Malhotra, managing director of the joint venture and joint managing director of the MBD Group.
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.