Hotel operator Jumeirah Group is not for sale, regardless of the reported restructuring being considered by its parent company Dubai Holding, the hotelier’s executive chairman told Arabian Business in an interview on Sunday.
On March 29, the Financial Times newspaper reported that Dubai Holding, an investment arm of Dubai Government, is considering restructuring up to $20bn of its debt.
Jumeirah Group, which operates the Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the Madinat Jumeirah and said it registered an average occupancy rate of 92.5 percent in April, is one of Dubai Holding’s most prized assets and recently said it plans to open another ten hotels in the next eighteen months.
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Gerard Lawless, executive chairman of Jumeirah Group, told Arabian Business that the hotel operator was “certainly not” for sale and that the high profile hospitality company was “an integral part of Dubai Holding”.
“Dubai Holding has really handled itself really well throughout the crisis situation from when the recession became apparent in late 2007, early 2008,” Lawless said on the sidelines of the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference in Dubai.
“I think it has been hugely positive and we have seen some very good reports, like from JP Morgan, about their attitude to Dubai Holding commercial operations group and how we can go forward,” he added.
The Jumeirah Group’s portfolio also includes Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Desert Resort and Spa in Dubai, the Jumeirah Carlton Tower and Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel in London and Jumeirah Essex House in New York.
The Financial Times had said that Dubai Holding, which spans financial investments, hospitality and real estate, could become the second large entity in Dubai to restructure debts after government-owned Dubai World tabled a restructuring proposal last week.
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