Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal a Saudi billionaire sold his stake for Ksh2.8 billion to a Nepalese tycoon in the tumultuous Fairmont the Norfolk and Fairmont the Mara SafariClub
The Saudi Prince closed the deal before the coronavirus pandemic went full-blown.
Prince Al-Waleed sold his shares to the Chaudhary Group (CG) via his firm, Kingdom Holding in the wake of troubling times for him with Saudi authorities. A few months ago, he was held over allegations of corruption.
“Prince Alwaleed is no longer in the game after surrendering the ownership of remaining hotel business in Kenya and his investment group is focusing somewhere else,” said the advisor to the Prince aware of the deal.
“The transaction has been closed and now the Nepalese owners are embarking on a full 100 percent renovation that will go for a whole one year,” he added.
Billionaire Binod Chaudhray of the Chaudhray Group is a Nepalese politician with a necklace of luxurious hotels across Asia and the Middle East.
A week ago, Fairmont The Norfolk and Fairmont Mara Safari Club fired all employees citing hard times over COVID-19 pandemic.
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts country general manager, Mehdi Morad in an internal memo cited that “Due to the uncertainty of when and how the impact of the global pandemic will result in the business picking up in the near future, we are left with no option but to close down the business indefinitely.”
“It is, therefore, the decision of the management to terminate the services of all its employees due to “frustration” by way of mutual separation and taking into account the loyalty and dedication the employees have put into the success of our company in the previous years.”
A day after the memo, Solicitor-General Ken Ogetto tasked the hotel to explain why it fired all of its employees.
On Thursday, the hotels rescinded their decision indicating that it will engage in talks now that President Uhuru Kenyatta announced a Ksh2 billion stimulus package for the hotel industry.
“We would like to reiterate that the owners, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and subsequently Accor Hotels are very committed towards the health, safety and wellbeing of the employees,” a new memo read.
“To this end, the Management has withdrawn the said memo as we continue with consultative meetings with all stakeholders until an agreement is reached.”