Pubali Bank to acquire Swissôtel building in Dhaka
Dhaka: Pubali Bank is set to acquire a 26-story under-construction building from the troubled Bengal Group, paying BDT 800 crore to convert the property into its new head office.
Originally developed by Bengal Hotels & Resorts, a Bengal Group concern, the tower was meant to house a five-star hotel, Swissôtel Dhaka.
In a stock exchange filing on July 23, the bank confirmed it would buy the building, called Swiss Tower, together with the 57.64-katha plot beneath it on Tejgaon Link Road.
The deal price covers income tax but not VAT and still requires clearance from Bangladesh Bank along with other regulators.
According to Bengal Group's website, the hotel had originally targeted opening in 2021, with plans for 350 rooms and suites, six dining and bar venues, a 950-square-meter events area featuring a 500-square-meter ballroom, and a spa and swimming pool.
A Bengal Group representative said the company lost close to BDT 1,000 crore after unrest on August 5 led to three of its Gazipur factories being torched and vandalized. Operations were further disrupted, the official noted, as senior leadership, including the chairman, could not return to work in the aftermath.
Unable to secure new bank credit, the group turned to selling the unfinished hotel to generate the cash flow needed to keep its remaining businesses running. Most of the proceeds from the sale would go toward settling outstanding bank debt, a separate company official claimed.
Swissôtel is a Swiss luxury hotel chain now owned by Accor. The brand traces back to 1980, when Switzerland's then national carrier Swissair and food conglomerate Nestlé set it up as a joint venture between the two companies.
It later passed through Raffles Holdings and FRHI Hotels & Resorts before entering the Accor portfolio. Swissôtel now counts more than 30 properties worldwide, including flagship hotels such as Swissôtel The Bosphorus in Istanbul and Swissôtel The Stamford in Singapore.
The group continues to expand, with new openings recently announced along Egypt's Red Sea coast and in the Czech Republic. A Dhaka property would have marked its entry into Bangladesh, though the plan has now been shelved following the building's tentative sale to Pubali Bank.
