Thai hotel group Minor extends overseas diversification

Having completed its largest-ever acquisition in February, Thailand's hotel and restaurant conglomerate  Minor International said Wednesday it plans to generate half of its sales abroad by 2020, up from 44% in 2015 and 18% in 2008.
     In February, the company acquired Tivoli Hotels and Resorts, a Portugal-based chain of 14 properties, for 294.2 million euro ($322 million). It believes it can expand the Tivoli brand into other markets Minor is already operating in, such as Asia, Africa or the Middle East.
     Including the Tivoli deal, Minor has spent $550 million over the past two years on hotel projects in Africa, Asia, Australia, South America and Europe to diversify away from what was a Thailand-centered portfolio. Currently, 66% of the group's hotel revenue is from outside Thailand, against only 6% in 2008.
     Bangkok accounts for just 12% of current revenue, helping the company mitigate the impact of political developments such as the anti-government rallies that blocked the capital's streets from late 2013 and the military coup that followed in 2014.
     Hotels and residential properties, covering both business and tourist markets, account for 50% of Minor's revenue. Most of the remaining half comes from restaurant operations, an area in which the company has also aggressively expanded overseas.