KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 27

The Soaltee Crowne Plaza hotel has now become an entity completely owned by Nepali shareholders after Soaltee Enterprises Pvt Ltd bought all the shares being held by the international company, InterContinental Hotels Group.

Among other shareholders, the Hong Kong-based IHG had 10 per cent stake in Soaltee Hotel Ltd.

“Along with this purchase from IHG, Soaltee hotel is now totally owned by only Nepali investors,” said Sudarshan Chapagain, authorised representative of Soaltee Enterprises.

“The shares of Soaltee hotel that were in the ownership of IHG were recently transferred to Soaltee Enterprises,” he added.

After the share transfer, Soaltee Enterprises now owns 50 per cent stake in Soaltee hotel. Oberoi Hotels Pvt Ltd holds eight per cent shares, Nepal Airlines Corporation holds 12 per cent shares while the remaining 30 per cent stake is held by the general public.

Soaltee Crowne Plaza was founded by late prince Himalaya Bir Bikram Shah Dev and late princess Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah in 1965. The hotel was formally inaugurated by late king Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev in 1966 with 104 rooms and today Soaltee Crowne Plaza hosts 282 luxurious guest rooms and seven regal VVIP suites, spread over 12 acres.

In 1969, Soaltee hotel was incorporated as a private limited company.

In the same year, Oberoi Hotels (India) Pvt Ltd, with its investment in shares capital of the company was entrusted with operational management of the hotel and it was rebranded as ‘Hotel Soaltee Oberoi’.

In 1975, the company which was a proprietorship before was converted into a public limited company with an investment in the shares capital of the company by Nepal Industrial Development Corporation, International Finance Corporation, Oberoi Hotels (India) Pvt Ltd, Nepal Airlines Corporation, promoters and the public.

It was renamed Soaltee Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Kathmandu in 1994 and was operated by Holiday Inns China Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of InterContinental Hotels.

In 1998, Soaltee Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza was rebranded as Soaltee Crowne Plaza Kathmandu.