IFA in talks to sell stake in $350m Dubai hotel

IFA Hotels & Resorts on Tuesday denied it is to sell the recently opened Fairmont hotel on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah, but confirmed it is in talks to sell a minority stake.

The 381-room hotel, which opened in January, is currently in talks with Middle East investors to sell a minority stake in the hotel, which has been valued at around $350m.

"IFA Hotel Investments is in discussions with potential strategic partners interested in purchasing a stake in Fairmont The Palm," Joe Sita, CEO of IFA Hotel Investments, said in a statement to Arabian Business.

While the size of the state has not been decided, an IFA spokesperson dismissed a Bloomberg News report which claimed the hotel as a whole was up for sale. Kuwait-based IFA is aiming to complete the stake sale by the end of the third quarter of this year.

The hotel’s opening had initially been delayed due to funding and was IFA’s first hotel to become operational in the emirate when it opened at the start of the year.

"The opening of Fairmont The Palm signifies our first contribution to Dubai's hospitality landscape," Talal Jassim Al-Bahar, chairman and CEO of IFA Hotels & Resorts, said at the time.

The new resort features 460 metres of beachfront, 381 guestrooms, 2,200 sq m of meeting and conference facilities, a 1,600 sq m spa, and seven food and beverage outlets.

These offerings form part of a larger $616m development that includes 562 luxury apartments bringing the total number of keys in the development to 957.