• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

HRH Group of hotles plans IPO; to rope in partner

P. Devarajan

UDAIPUR, Sept. 1

WITH an initial public offer (IPO) and a minority equity offering to a strategic partner, Maharana Arvind Singh Mewar, chief of HRH Group of hotels, will be ushering the public, for the first time, to share the flavour of regal exclusivity. ``With the st ock market in the dumps, an IPO and picking of a strategic partner may have to wait. In the meantime we are looking at a private placement to raise some $50 million,'' informs the 76th custodian of the House of Mewar.

The HRH Group owns some of the class hotel properties in Udaipur like Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel, Fateh Prakash Palace Hotel, Shikarbadi Hotel, Lake Palace Hotel (under management contract with Taj) and Jag Mandir with many others in Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Gajner.

``The property is the premium and most of them are at least 100 years old with one different from another. And our hospitality has a character and not just functional,'' claims Mr. Arvind Singh. Going by anecdotes picked up in our rounds, a carpet inlaid with gems in the Durbar Hall of Fateh Prakash Palace was priced about a billion dollars by a US firm in the 50s.

The invitation to meet the Maharana, following a request, was scheduled for 7.30 pm. The meeting took place under a three-quarter moon on the marbled terrace of Shambhu Niwas Palace overlooking Lake Pichola with the lighted Jag Mandir and Lake Palace in the middle glistening like fireflies. Shambhu Niwas Palace, on the banks of Lake Pichola, is tucked betwen Fateh Prakash Palace and Shiv Niwas Palace and is the official residence of the Maharana.

The short-statured, white bearded royalty, clad in a dark blue T-shirt, jeans and sneakers looks strong and a booming voice spells out a touching faith in the government's policy to promote tourism. ``For Rajasthan, tourism is the only way of economic up lift as the hotel industry makes demand on every sector from agriculture to the rest,'' he says.

Of Udaipur's six lakh population, about three lakh live off tourism, explains Mr. Pankaj Mishra, General Manager, Projects.

As a soft wind from the lake mixes the lights and shadows, one realises the Maharana is quite serious in becoming a corporate citizen with a listing on the bourses. For the time being, the decision of HRH Group of Hotels to go public, does sound a statem ent of intention to be in accord with the changing times with details scarce.

``Of course we have a cash crunch. I am not afraid of MNCs as they become my clients. I have leased out my own land across the Lake to the Oberois to build a hotel. Some of my friends thought the decision would hit my group. When the Oberois come up, the ir clients will also be mine as my property is soaked in centuries of history and culture,'' the Maharana says with some confidence.

At the same time, the decision to take the company to the market could be about as vital as the two earlier steps of acceding to India and watching the privy purse being snatched away by Indira Gandhi Government. The Maharana does not see it that way and thinks he is as common as any common man while admitting in the same breath, ``I cannot call of my ancestry.''

When HRH Group gets listed on the bourses, the 500-year old royalty of Mewar will have to live with a more realistic, corporate ethic. Today not many dare question decisions taken but with a public stake, royal etiquette may not be the same.

``I am not afraid of competition and will not offer majority equity to anyone. There are many keen to enter if offered 51 per cent stake but I am not interested,'' he confesses. In the past, the Mewar rulers were known as Maharanas for not having bowed t o Muslim rule unlike others and that pride still drives the 57-year old gentleman.

As a well-dressed attendant fills his glass with beer, he admits Scotch ``is still my favourite.'' The Maharana thinks over what he has to say and the long pauses remind one of an individual who has lived through change and is prepared to live by the cha nging rules with his convictions intact. He feels sad that a young generation is not in power as then the country could catch up more easily with global trends.

As the interview draws to a close one asks him the manner of a typical day. ``By 7.30 or 8 in the morning I am at my office and till 10 is the best time. I am a day person and not a night person. In the afternoon I have my seista and then it is back to w ork till 7.30 in the evening,'' he says.

As we break up, the Maharana is gracious enough to invite us to a party at his Shikarbadi Hotel in Udaipur. After requesting us to wait for a few minutes, he comes back from a quick wash and is not upset when we politely decline the offer. We walk to a w aiting Merc and the Maharana departs with a namaste.

Picture: Sriji Arvind Singh Mewar of Udaipur