ECM Libra’s Ormond Group to own, operate and/or manage hotel venture

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): ECM Libra has identified three guest accommodation models that will contribute to its growth, reported The Edge Malaysia recently.

“To be placed under the soon-to-be-set-up Ormond Group Sdn Bhd, this wholly-owned unit of ECM Libra will own, operate and/or manage three distinct models that will be the pillars of the hospitality group — Ormond Hotels, Tune Hotels and SubHome,” said the business weekly.

According to the report, Ormond Group already owns four of the 14 Tune-branded hotels and by end-2020, this will expand to 15 hotels with 3,000 rooms.

ECM has so far acquired Tune Hotel 1Borneo in Kota Kinabalu, Tune Hotel George Town in Penang, and the rights to operate and manage Tune Hotel KLIA Aeropolis for an estimated RM30.93 million via cash and share swap.

It has also bought into TP Hotel (Flinders) Trust, which owns a two-storey building in Melbourne, and 50% of Tune Hotel klia2 — the other half is owned by Plato.

“ECM will be a hospitality group going forward that will acquire, develop and operate hotels … It has diversified into hospitality, which adds to the revenue stream of ECM,” Ormond Group CEO Gareth Lim said

Ormond Group will also undertake a repositioning of Tune Hotels – they will no longer be budget and no-frills.

“What you have seen in the past is going to be considerably changed going forward,” said Head of Ormond Group Development and Partnerships and CEO of Tune Hotels Mark Lankester.

He said that “the emphasis will be on the overall guest experience” with Tune Hotel klia2 an example of the transformed brand.

“There is only so much you can do to compete on price. It is not sustainable in the long term. We realised we needed to change. We did not have food and beverage. Because we had no F&B, it meant we had no breakfast and no breakfast meant no group and corporate sales,” Lim said.

It was with this in mind that the company divested some of its hotels “so the funds raised could be used to rebuild new hotels”.

The group said it “will remain cost-conscious but will also spend on design and guest services, incorporating technology for efficiencies to improve the guest experience”.

“All Tune Hotels will be refreshed to the klia2 brand standard,” Lim said. The new tagline for Tune Hotels is now “Simplicity Perfected”, he added

It was also reported that ECM is set to introduce a new luxury hotel brand called Ormond Hotels, made up of a collection of boutique hotels.

“Certain properties, such as the one in Kuala Lumpur, will be repositioned as Ormond hotels by July next year. The intention is to completely redo and reopen it as an Ormond,” Lim revealed.

According to reports, Tune Plato Ventures Sdn Bhd (a joint venture between Tune Group Sdn Bhd and ECM Libra) also acquired a 50% stake in SubHome Management Sdn Bhd.

The latter is a hospitality company that manages “a portfolio of luxury serviced suites in prominent locations in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru”.

“SubHome is growing exponentially and targets to have 3,000 units in Malaysia by end-2018 from 450 units now. Whether it is Ormond, Tune or SubHome, the three models will emphasise guest services,” said ECM.