FFW cements relationship with leading hotel group with Indian franchise deal
02 January 2007
Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP (FFW) has advised leading
hospitality group, the Wyndham Hotel Group, on a franchise
agreement with Bangalore based Royal Orchid Hotels Ltd. The
agreement will see Royal Orchid Hotels develop ten Ramada hotels
across India, totalling at least a thousand rooms.
This is the second major deal FFW has advised Wyndham on in
recent months. In November, the firm advised the hotel group
on a joint venture franchise agreement with the Corinthia Group of
companies to jointly manage hotels throughout Europe, the Middle
East and Africa.
Royal Orchid chairman, Chender Baljee said the group will be
investing five billion Indian rupees (around US $100 million) to
build four-star quality Ramada Hotels over the next three to four
years. The hotels will be situated in the Indian states of
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and
Rajasthan.
India is seeing significant growth in the hotel market with a
recent PricewaterhouseCoopers’ report indicating the Indian market
will require up to 125,000 new hotel rooms over the next five
years.
Mark Abell,
head of FFW’s Franchising
Practice led the deal, assisted by solicitor Will Parsloe.
This latest international franchising deal once again reflects the
strength of FFW’s franchising group and its international
capability. FFW has advised a large portfolio of clients on
their global roll outs, including the likes of Hamleys, H&M
Hennes Mauritz, Monsoon, Yo! Sushi and M&S.
Mark Abell
said: “India is a real hotspot at the moment. The
economy is booming and the increase in the affluent, middle class
population in India is creating a real demand for international
brands in both the leisure and retail sectors. We are
currently advising three other clients on Indian deals in
these sectors and expect to see many more in 2007. Over the last
few months our website www.indianfranchising.com
has been receiving a large number of hits from companies keen to
enter the subcontinent.”
Steven A Rudnitsky, Wyndham Hotel Group president and chief
executive officer, said: “With international tourism receipts of
$5.7 billion and a record 3.9 million foreign visitors in 2005,
India is critically important to our Asia-Pacific development
plans. The agreement with Royal Orchid Hotels enables us to
accelerate the expansion of our Ramada brand in the Indian
market.”
Royal Orchid Hotels was advised by in-house counsel.
For further press information please contact:
Louise Eckersley, PR Manager on +44 (0)20 7861 4120