Corinthia subsidiary shares fully subscribed

by Anna Maria Bartolo

Shares worth Lm10 million issued by International Hotel Investments plc, a subsidiary of the Corinthia Group, have been fully subscribed and closed yesterday at noon.

The Convertible Bond Issue has been left open for anyone who wishes to apply. The closing date for the bond issue will be made known in the coming days.

Group director Alfred Fabri told The Malta Business Weekly "There was a very wide uptake, a very large number of applicants well beyond what we were imagining." Mr Fabri said the public's response indicated that the people who had applied "have faith in the prospects of IHI."

Asked about what IHI's immediate plans were, he replied that the issuing of the shares were only the first step in the company's strategy. In fact IHI is actively pursuing as its first project the redevelopment of the 'Grand Hotel Royal' in Budapest.

"Works on this project will commence within the coming months and will end at around the beginning of 2003," the Group director said. The 'Grand Hotel Royal' belongs to Corinthia Investments Hungary kmt which is wholly owned by IHI.

"The hotel is a protected building constructed around a century ago at the height of the Austro-Hungarian empire and we will enhance this building," he said.

The new hotel will be five-star and Mr Fabri said the company was completing it to a standard which will make it one of the top hotels in the region."

Plans to buy hotels in Russia and Croatia are in the pipeline and the projects are still at the negotiation stage."Such projects take time. It is a bit early to say when these will be oncluded," Mr Fabri added.