Taiwan's Formosa hotel group acquires Regent business

Apr 17, 2010, 2:17 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan's Formosa International Hotels Corp has beaten two dozen global hotel operators to acquire the Regent luxury hotel business.

The Formosa hotel group, which owns the Grand Formosa Regent Taipei, has agreed to buy the Regent hotel business from Carlson Hospitality Worldwide based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the companies said.

The 56-million-US-dollar deal will be finalized in the next few months, according to a statement by Carlson.

The acquisition includes the sale of the global Regent brand and all associated intellectual property, the hotel management, lease contracts for properties in operation and under development and the Regent Seven Seas Cruises license, the statement said.

'Regent plans to return to gateway cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, New York, Beverly Hills, London, Paris and Sydney,' it added.

'Pipeline hotels include exceptional projects in Abu Dhabi, Bali, Bangkok, Doha, Dubrovnik, Gurgaon, Kuala Lumpur, Maldives, Phuket and Puerto Rico,' it noted.

Steven Pan, Formosa hotel group chairman, said Friday that Formosa won the deal because Carlson considered the Taipei Regent hotel the best-run Regent all over the world, the China Times daily said.

Once the takeover is completed, the Formosa hotel group will be in charge of 17 Regent hotels around the world - seven in operation and 10 under construction.

The first Regent hotel opened in Hawaii in 1970, but the brand did not gain international recognition until 1980 when the Regent Hong Kong opened.

Over the years, Regent hotels have become known as one of the world's top hotel brands - characterized by its luxury and service, including making the bed twice a day.

But Regent's ownership has changed hands several times due to financial problems.