MBD Group, India’s largest education and leading hospitality company and Steigenberger Hotel Group the largest German chain of hotels and resorts announced a joint venture to manage and franchise hotels under the brand “MBD STEIGENBERGER” for the Indian Territory. MBD Group will have a 51% stake while Steigenberger Hotel Group will hold a 49% stake in the joint venture company.
Management of the joint venture company would be in the hands of the MBD Group looking after the India wide operations of the brand including business development, management and franchising of hotels, India marketing, pre-opening and post-opening assistance, etc wherein Steigenberger would be providing international sales and marketing support, training and brand standards to be deployed in the Indian region to suit the expectations of a luxury traveler.
The joint venture would target to open at least 20 hotels in India over the next 15 years with projected annual revenue of hotels under management and/ or franchise of nearly 2000 cr.
MBD Steigenberger brand, in-line with the international positioning of the Steigenberger brand, shall be positioned to target the luxury segment in India, a segment that is expected to grow at an extremely fast pace in India. The flagship hotel under the JV will be the MBD Zephyr Bangalore – An MBD Steigenberger Hotel located in the heart of Whitefield Bangalore – the silicon city of India offering 184 rooms and 118 service apartments, interpreting luxury in the true sense of the word.
Commenting on the partnership, Ms Sonica Malhotra, Managing Director of the Joint venture and Joint Managing Directorof the MBD Group, said, “We are extremely proud to announce our association with Steigenberger Hotel Group. The association will ensure that German excellence joins hands with the warmth of Indian hospitality providing the next level experience to our guests across the country. We will be focusing on key cities in the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa, Kolkata, Pune, Indore, and other cities where we want to come up with Luxury Hotels and cater to the crème de la crème in each city.“
Puneet Chhatwal, CEO, Steigenberger Hotel Group: “We are extremely honored to associate with our appreciated partner MBD and become a part of the Indian hotel landscape. This is an important milestone in our history of international growth. As a company with German roots Steigenberger Hotel Group enjoys a good reputation worldwide. It is the “Germanness” what is associated with precision, reliability and quality all around the globe. Our brand represents excellence, perfection and a wealth of tradition. We are very excited to bring our hospitality to the Indian market.”
Talking about their strategy, Ms. Malhotra further added, “We have been in the hospitality industry for over a decade and have successful proven ourselves by exuberating excellent the hospitality performance in Delhi and Punjab both on financial parameters and also overall guest experience. Steigenberger understood our key strengths and also the potential of the Indian hospitality and has accordingly put MBD Group on the lead for managing the joint venture in India. MBD Group comes with its key strengths understanding the socio and demographic profile of the country because of our hospitality company and also because of the fact that we are the largest education company in India working across more than 62 locations. Our first property under this joint venture will be the iconic MBD Zephyr – A MBD Steigenberger Hotel in Bangalore exuberating lifestyle, luxury and surprise and after that we will be looking at potential projects either in green field and brown field stage in gateway cities.”
The Joint Venture will primarily function as a Management Company where MBD Group will manage the assets under the brand MBD Steigenberger in India and will be Head quartered out of MBD’s Corporate Office at Bahadhur Shah Zafar Marg in New Delhi.
About MBD Group
MBD Group, one of the leading education companies in India with over 6 decades of experience, under the futuristic vision of the founder of the Group Shri Ashok Kumar Malhotra has diversified into various industries including E- Learning, M-Learning, Skill Development, Eco Friendly Notebooks, Paper Manufacturing, ICT Infrastructure, Hospitality, Project Design and Construction Management, Real Estate, Mall Development and Management. MBD Group has been continuously working for the cause of providing education to all with its vision to create “MBD Product for every literate person”. The group has also ventured into the South African and Sri-Lankan markets with its basket of education services.
Today, MBD Group has its presence in 3 continents, 30 countries and 5000 cities, and publishes 50 million books a year and around 30 million notebooks. The Group has a large number of employees and a wide network of distributors and booksellers across the country. It is the only publisher which publishes books for all classes, all subjects, all educational boards in India and in most of the languages spoken in the country along with a few international languages. MBD is the only publishing house in India with complete backward and forward integration, right from self-owned paper manufacturing unit to in-house pre-press facilities, in-house printing and binding units, and also its own distribution network with 29 branch offices pan India.;
The Group has also successfully established itself in the hospitality industry with its maiden venture, the Radisson Blu MBD Hotel, Noida (Delhi NCR). This hotel is fully owned and managed by the MBD Group and is the first five star deluxe hotel in Noida. It has won numerous awards in various categories, be it for the best hotel or the best-rated restaurants. The second venture of the group is the Radisson Blu Hotel in Ludhianawhich is also the first 5 star deluxe hotel in that region. Both hotels of the Group are leading in financial performance in their competitive set.
The MBD Group has also ventured into premium and luxury mixed-use developments. The premium mixed use developments, encompassing a 5-star hotel, premium retail and entertainment under the brand name “MBD Neopolis” are being operated successfully in Ludhiana and Jalandhar.www.mbdgroup.com
About Steigenberger Hotel Group
The Steigenberger name has stood for top-class European hotels, incomparable hospitality and exquisite service for over 85 years now, with over550 million Euros (INR 4300 crores) in total turnover. All hotels in the Steigenberger Hotel Group, whether traditional or modern, cater to the very highest expectations of guests. Steigenberger Hotel Group is one of Europe’s leading hotel companies with over 23,000 rooms. From its Head Office in Germany, the Steigenberger Group operates 116 hotels in 12 countries on 3 continents among them24 hotels under development or construction soon to be launched.
Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts include some of the most prestigious hotels in Europe, Middle East, Egyptand China, such as the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof, the Steigenberger Hotel Business Bay in Dubai, and the Steigenberger Wiltcher’s in Brussels. InterCityHotel is a medium-price brand that offers 38 hotels located in city centres and at airports. Jaz in the City is a new creative concept, and the first hotel to be operated under this brand opened in Amsterdam in November 2015. www.steigenbergerhotelgroup.com.
