Poland: Orbis To Merge With Hekon

Around the end of April Orbis will take over 16 to 17 new hotels from its strategic investor, Accor. The president of Orbis, Maciej Grelowski, said on Monday that the negotiations will soon be finalised. The take-over of the hotels, now owned by Hekon, will seriously increase Orbis' potential, as it already manages a network of 56 hotels.

The president of Orbis did not reveal the value of the transaction. According to analysts, the assets value of Hekon is ZL300m. "Considering the conditions of last year's purchase by Accor of the 12 percent shares package of Hekon, Orbis should pay the French some ZL450m.

However, such a high price is unlikely", says DM analyst Jakub Sierka. The value of all Orbis shares on the stock exchange does not exceed ZL800m. Last year, Orbis earned only ZL30.9m, which was far less than in 2001. The company's managing board hopes for better results in 2003.