Gulu opens up about RPM sale

Gulu opens up about RPM sale
Phuket Gazette


A mock-up of RPM's post-sale master plan, which shows a water park surrounded by hotels, condominiums and villas. Photo: Royal Phuket Marina

PHUKET: The Royal Phuket Marina (RPM) is on the market.

The announcement of the ‘luxury lifestyle development’s impending sale comes as a surprise to many industry analysts, particularly as RPM Chairman Gulu Lalvani has often referred to the development as his legacy. Just last year, Mr Lalvani announced a 5 billion baht investment plan for the marina.

In an exclusive interview with the Phuket Gazette earlier this week, Mr Lalvani explained he was approached by a private equity investor at the beginning of January.

Taking a break from his high finance life in New York to enjoy a yachting vacation around the Andaman, the holiday-maker reportedly contacted Mr Lalvani to make him an offer.

“I said, ‘it’s not for sale’. I told him this is my personal hobby and so on,” Mr Lalvani said.

While Mr Lalvani refused to reveal the identity of the potential buyer, he said that his own research into the man and his company found considerable investments in the hospitality industry worldwide.

Mr Lalvani’s anonymous investor reportedly holds significant assets in mixed-use developments in the US, including in Florida’s entertainment capital Orlando, and similar developments in California.

Full story: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Gulu-opens-about-RPM-sale/64216?desktopversion


-- Phuket Gazette 2016-07-18