8/14/2019 Kuwait Times 12NOV2013

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WHAT S ONTUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013

Greetings

Accountant Makram Awadhain celebrat-ed his wedding with the daughter ofAbdulnabi family at the Marshal El

Gezirah Hotel on the Nile River in Mansourah,Egypt.

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Belated birthday wishes to our lovingdaughter Pearl Angel DSouza, who cele-brated her fourth birthday on 11th Nov.

May Almighty God bless you and keep youalways in good health. Best wishes from yourdad Greg, mom Bhumika, grandma Nicky Ti-

Peisy & Vico, cousin Vernon, Marshal & family,Francis and family, best wishes from babyFlorangel who is in Goa, Steven & family Skyraand Slayoon.

Marriott International, Inc. yesterday said it hassigned a letter of intent with Protea HospitalityHoldings of Cape Town, South Africa to acquire

Protea Hotelss brands and its management businessthat operates or franchises 116 hotels across threebrands with 10,184 rooms in S outh Africa and six otherSub-Saharan African countries. The transaction wouldnearly double Marriotts distribution in Africa to morethan 23,000 rooms, and would also provide Marriott

with a proven operational platform and leadershipteam to accelerate Marriotts expansion plans and solid-ify its leadership position in the dynamic and growingAfrican hotel market.

Protea Hotels, founded in 1984, manages, franchisesand leases hotels across the Protea Hotels brand (104hotels), comprising a full and diverse range of outstand-ing hotels and resorts; the award-winning lifestyle bou-tique Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! brand (2 hotels); and t hesuperior deluxe African Pride Hotels collection (10hotels). In addition to its industry-leading 80 hotels inSouth Africa, Protea Hotels has a signicant presence inMalawi, Namibia, Nigeria,Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

As part of the transaction, Protea HospitalityHoldings would create a property ownership companyto retain ownership of the hotels it c urrently owns (andenter into long-term management and lease agree-ments with Marriott for these hotels). It would alsoretain a number of minority interests in other Proteamanaged hotels. At closing Marriott would manageapproximately 46 percent of the rooms, franchiseapproximately 40 percent of the rooms, and leaseapproximately 14 percent of the rooms.

Arne Sorenson, president and chief executive officerof Marriott International, said, Africa has signicantuntapped potential for travel and tourism, both as adestination and source of new global travelers. Thecontinents GDP is anticipated to grow at over ve per-cent annually over the next several years which weexpect will raise more people into the emerging mi ddleclass. With the Protea Hotels acquisition, our expanded

footprint should allow us to become the rst choice ofAfricas rapidly growing population of young, sophisti-cated travelers, and drive loyalty to our MarriottRewards program both within Africa and globally.Protea Hotels enjoys unparalleled brand recognition inAfrica, and our combined portfolio of Protea Hotels andcurrent Marriott International brands would create aplatform for accelerated growth and new job growth inSouth Africa and across the continent.

Alex Kyriakidis, president of Marriott International forthe Middle East and Africa, said, The developmentcycle for opening new hotels in Africa is typically longdue to the challenges posed by emerging infrastruc-ture, so joining forces with Protea Hotels and their high-ly respected management team is the strongest way tojumpstart Marriotts footprint in Africa. The MarriottMiddle East and Africa management team can delivervalue and greater growth for Proteas hotel owners byleveraging these terric brands, represented by 116hotels and more than 10,000 rooms in seven countries,with Marriotts global sales, marketing and develop-ment infrastructure. We believe this would also result inmore job creation in South Africa and across the conti-nent.

Arthur Gillis, chief executive officer of ProteaHospitality Group, said Protea Hotels has grown organi-cally to become the largest and leading hotel group inSub-Saharan Africa. Aligning with a global giant such asMarriott ensures we can realise the Groups full poten-tial for all of our stakeholders. In Marriott we have founda perfect t across culture, values and commitment toindustry leadership which will ensure that we remain at

the forefront of African hospitality.The otherwise non-binding letter of intent includesprovisions that the parties will negotiate exclusivelywith each other. The transaction is subject to comple -tion of due diligence, negotiation and execution ofdenitive documents, receipt of customary third partyand governmental consents and approvals and satisfac-tion of other customary conditions for transact ions of

this kind that the parties expect will be included in thedenitive transaction documents.

The proposed terms of the transaction are not beingdisclosed at this time. The parties stated that they planto sign denitive agreements by year-end 2013 and thetransaction could close in the rst three months of2014. In any event, Marriott does not expect the trans-action would have a material impact on its 2014 results.

Marriott signs letter of intent to acquire Proteahotel groups hotel operations and brands

JW Marriott Bengaluru

Paasha Pune MarriottProtea Hotels - pool

Alaa Selim in AlJahra Copthorne

Hotel & Resort

Al JahraCopthorneHotel &

Resort welcomesAlaa Selim, the newHotel manager.Alaa holds a MasterDegree in BusinessAdministration inMarketing and hasover 15 years ofexperience inHospitalityIndustry.

Alaa has heldvarious positions intop class hotels inKuwait such as JWMarriott, CourtyardMarriott, and PalmsBeach Hotel & Spa,Kuwait.

He says: As the largest and only international chainhotel in northern Kuwait, this will present a wonderfulnew challenge.

Im very much looking forward to working with theexcellent team here to continue to provide our guestswith the highest standards of service.

We wish Alaa Selim all the best of luck with his newteam in Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resor t.

Soorya IndiaFest on Nov 15

In association with UAE Exchange, Soorya KuwaitChapter shall be staging Soorya India Festival 2013,on the evening of Friday, November 15, 2013, at the

Indian Community School (Sr.) Auditorium, Salmiya at 7pm.

This time, Soorya shall be presenting two dancingcouples with two oldest dance forms of India - aBharatanatyam by Anuradha and Sridhar and an Odissiby Arupa Lahri and Bijan Kumar Palai. Recipients of sev-eral accolades for their performances, the dancingduets have individuated themselves by a passion forperfection, vibrant nritta and sophisticated senses ofAbhinayam.

The recitals by Anuradha and Sridhar, one of Indiastop duet exponents of Bharatanatyam and Arupa Lahriand Bijan Kumar Palai, one of the leading duet Odissi

dancers of the country, will enthrall the art lovers ofKuwait, according to officials.

As usual, the entry for the show will be restrictedwith invitations. For more details, please contact atsooryachpater@gmail.com Soorya India, led by versatilemastermind Soorya Krishnamurthy, is present in 19countries. It has been propagating the art of Indias out-side the country for the last 14 years with active supportof its chief patron Dr BR Shetty, Managing Director, NMCgroup of companies.

Kozhikode District NRIAssociation will hold a megacarnival Malabar Maholsavam

2013 on Friday, November 15 atMananchira Square, the IndianCentral School open auditorium,Abbassiya.

Addressing a press c onference,the KDNA office-bearers informedthat the day-long carnival will show-case the rich cultural heritage ofKozhikode and display some ofMalabars diverse and distinctcuisines before the expatriate com-munity in Kuwait. The purpose ofconducting Malabar Mahotsavam2013 is to strengthen the relief andto continue charity activities of theassociation for the poor and needywho are striving very hard for their

livelihood.Popular Malayalam Writer, Actor

and Director Joy Mathew will attendthe event as the chief guest.Mazhavil Manorama ComedyFestival Team Calicut V4U andKarirali TV Patturumal Winner Dilna

Hassan also attend to entertain theaudience. Other cultural program byNandhananm School of Dance, HeatBeats Kuwait, Jungle Boys Kuwait,Abhinaya Kuwait, KKMA and byKDNA Members will make the showan unforgettable event. Cookingcompetition and Henna Designingcontest for exclusively for ladies willbe other attractions of the event,Mananchira Square the carnivalvenue will be bubbly from 9.30 amon wards with people moving

around food courts that display therich diversity of Malabars delicaciesand dishes, exhibition halls thatshowcase paintings and photo-graphs of Malabar.

As a nale to the entire show, theKDNA office-bearers will lead a col-

orful procession with the accompa-niment of a dazzling pageant andchenda melam at 4 pm. AssociationPresident Zubair MM, GeneralSecretary Suresh Mathur, TreasurerSathian Varoonda, Advisory BoardMember Krishnan Kadalundi,Program Gen Convenor NasarThikkodi, Convener Ilyas Thottathiland Organizing Secretary K Alikoyawere present at the press meet.

KDNA to hold MalabarMaholsavam no Nov 15

Seva Darshans childrens wingBala Darshan Kuwait successfullyheld its annual competition,

Gokulolsavam 2013, on November 5at the Indian Community School,Khaitan. Over 350 children from thefour units of Bala Darshan Kuwaitcompeted in 13 different variety com-petitions. The day-long competitions,held on seven stages simultaneously,showcased the knowledge the chil-dren have gained from the weeklyclasses.

The inaugural function wasanchored by Anitha Jayan. The con-vener of the event, Prabhakaran Mwelcomed the children and their par-

ents. Gangadhar Shirsath, Principal ofIndian Community School Khaitan,inaugurated the event. The Foundermember and Advisory board memberof PART (Progressive Art Realization

Troop Kuwait), Shri. Sasi Krishna gavethe felicitation speech on behalf of hisorganization. Event joint convenerRoopesh gave the vote of thanks. Aspart of the ongoing yearlong celebra-tion of Swami Vivekanandas 150 birthanniversary, Seva Darshan has beenholding various programs in Kuwait.At the venue of Gokulolsavam, its pro-fessional

forum Vichar Bharati in associationwith PART held an open canvas exhi-

bition on Swami Vivekananda. Theexhibition was inaugurated by Sr

Tresa, the state president of KeralaHandicapped Welfare Association andprominent social worker. Prominentartists from Kuwait like Sunil Pookode,Sasi Krishnan, Basheer Kavasheri,Prince, Jacob, Arunkumar were joinedby the budding artist from BalaDarshan Kuwait and their parents tocreate a 45 meter log canvas. Theevent was highly appreciated by theattendees. The organizers haveannounced that the awards will bepresented to the winners and the par-ticipants at a function which will beshortly announced.

Gokulolsavam 2013 successful