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EBRD to invest in Hungarian hotel group
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will be a core shareholder in the first major hotel privatisation in Hungary along with a non-Hungarian strategic partner, with an equity investment of US$ 7 million (ECU 5.8 million equivalent) in Pannonia Hotels, Rt, a Hungarian limited liability company, through an intermediate holding company, Holpa SA.
Accor, a French company and one of the leading providers of hotel, tourism and travel related services in the world, will be the EBRD's strategic partner in Holpa SA. Holpa SA will have a 51 per cent interest in Pannonia. The other 49 per cent of Pannonia will be owned by Hungarian shareholders including employees of Pannonia and the Hungarian State Property Agency.
The EBRD's US$ 7 million will provide new cash to Pannonia for investment in its hotel business in Hungary and other central and eastern European countries in which the Bank operates.
Ron Freeman, First Vice President of the EBRD, said: "Our investment will contribute to the successful privatisation of Pannonia, an important milestone in Hungary's privatisation programme."
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