Unique Hotel to sell its power plant share to Nebras Power

Qatar based investment company, Nebras Power Investment Management BV, will buy an 11.76% stake worth Tk205 crore in Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited from its owner, Unique Hotel and Resorts Limited.

Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited is a subsidiary of Unique Hotel and Resorts Limited, which owns 65.01% shares of the power plant. Out of this stake they will sell 11.76% to the Qatar based investment company.

In this regard, Unique Hotel and Resorts Limited signed an agreement with the Qatar based global power development and investment company on 17 April.

As per the agreement, Nebras Power Investment will buy 14,641 shares of the gas-based power plant from Unique Hotel at a face value of Tk10 each. Nebras Power will pay $24.06 million or Tk205 crore in four phases for these shares, including a premium.

The Nebras Power to buy total 24% stake of Unique Meghnaghat Power. They will buy the rest stake from another partner Strategic Finance Limited of Unique Meghnaghat. The total deal value around Tk450 crore.

Md Sharif Hasan, company secretary of Unique Hotel, told The Business Standard, "Now the Qatar based investment company is working with us as a partner in this power plant. As a result, our investment facility will flourish."

"The company plans to invest more in this power project with the sale of these shares," he added.

Earlier, on 24 July, 2019, a 22 year power purchase agreement (PPA) was signed between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Unique Hotel to set up the country's largest combined cycle power plant of 584 megawatts fueled by natural gas. The project is situated at Meghnaghat, Sonargaon, in Narayanganj district.

The Unique Power Plant will be built on 18.75 acres of land at an overall estimated cost of $520 million. It is expected to start operations by July 2022, generating electricity that could power 7 lakh homes.

Nebras Power, headquartered in Doha, Qatar, was established in 2014. The company is a joint venture of two government related entities: Qatar Electricity and Water Company with a 60% stake, and Qatar Investment Authority with 40% shares.

Nebras Power was set up to take advantage of the investment opportunities created by the continuously growing demand for electricity and water throughout the world.

Unique's hotel business

Unique Hotel and Resorts Limited is a listed company in the country's capital market. It owns The Westin Dhaka hotel.

Due to the Covid-19 shock, The Westin Dhaka witnessed a 69% year-on-year negative growth, with Tk18.50 crore in revenue for the October-December quarter last year. The hotel also posted a 91% year-on-year negative growth in the April-June quarter of the same year.

Md Sharif Hasan said, "During the countrywide lockdown we are running the hotel with limited facilities."

The company's profits were down 54% in fiscal year 2019-20, compared to the previous fiscal year, but it still paid a 10% cash dividend to shareholders for the last fiscal year.

On Sunday, its share price rose by 2.82% to Tk35.60 each at the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

As of February this year, general investors hold 14.72% shares of the company, sponsors and directors hold 52.23%, institutional investors hold 32.30%, and foreign investors have 0.75% shares.