Mara Hotel up for sale

Three groups of foreign investors, two of them from Israel and one from the US have voiced interest in buying the Mara Hotel in Sinaia, Ionel Blanculescu, chairman of the Banking Assets Resolution Authority (AVAB) said on Wednesday.
He would not reveal the identity of the three investors and did not say whether they were already operating on the Romanian market, either.
Blanculescu also announced the advertisement for selling the hotel by public tender would be published by mid next week, with the tender held ten days from publication. “The starting price of the tender will be $16 million, as derived from the audit report,” the AVAB chairman added. He said the number of bidders would surely go up as soon as the campaign to promote the hotel, for which $1,500 had been allocated, began.
Blanculescu says the Mara Hotel in Sinaia can be profitable if included in an international chain. “If we are unable to get at least 50% of the starting price of the tender, we will give up selling the hotel and transfer it to the State private ownership instead.” Under the circumstances, one option would be awarding the hotel’s management to an international hotel chain.
AVAB took over the hotel in Sinaia in February 2003 and closed it. “AVAB has completed the repossession and has inventoried more than 30,000 items so far,” the Authority chairman said. He added AVAB had concluded a nearly $10,000 contract with Rexcom, which got the custody, preservation, maintenance and security of the hotel complex for three months. Rexcom is also managing Banca Romana pentru Dezvoltare (Romanian Development Bank – BRD) conference centre in Predeal and RomTelecom’s current headquarters.