Interesting news from New Zealand's hospitality scene today: NZCity is reporting that the Novotel Tainui Hamilton and the Ibis Hamilton Tainui may soon be on the market. The site says that joint owners the Tainui tribe and Hamilton City Council are both "considering selling down their holdings."
Both Tainui Group Holdings and Hamilton City Council own 41 percent each of Hamilton Riverview Hotels, the holding company for the hotels, while operator Accor owns 18 percent.
Tainui Group Holdings and the council are expected to confirm plans to jointly offer a majority stake in the hotels this week, the Waikato Times reports. Tainui will maintain a minority holding and Accor will be bought out as part of the process.
Hamilton Riverview Hotels had total assets of $46 million in the last Tainui Group annual report. The company has been performing well and a final stage of refurbishment of the Novotel Tainui was completed in September 2011. The hotel business was one of the first major investments by the tribe after it received settlement money. The tribe also owns 70 percent of the Novotel Auckland Airport through its subsidiary Tainui Development Ltd.