Taj Samudra investor Binod Chaudhary enters East Africa with two iconic properties
CG Hospitality, the hospitality arm of CG Corp Global, the first multibillion-dollar conglomerate from Nepal headed by Binod Chaudhary who also has investments in the hospitality industry in Sri Lanka announced its re-entry into the rapidly growing East African market, with the acquisition of two iconic Fairmont properties in Kenya, The Fairmont Mara Safari Club and Fairmont The Norfolk.
Renowned for its impressive and storied history, Fairmont The Norfolk hosts 27 luxurious suites and 143 rooms set around tranquil tropical gardens intertwined with the rich history of the city. The Fairmont Mara Safari Club with its 51 luxuriously furnished tents at the foot of the Aitong Hills overlooking the hippofilled Mara River, is inside the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and home to the great wildebeest migration.
With this acquisition, CG Hospitality becomes a part of a rich historical legacy that the Fairmont ‘The Norfolk’ hotel celebrates. From being the first luxury hotel in Kenya to being a shelter to men and women during World War II, the property has seen and been a part of momentous world events.
It 1909, it was also one of the stops on Theodore Roosevelt’s ‘Africa Safari and Scientific Expedition’ and was a gathering place for legendary figures throughout the 1900s including author of Out of Africa Karen Blixen and the Adamsons, immortalized in the movie Born Free.
Expressing elation at leading the company into its strategic expansion plans, MD & CEO of CG Hospitality Holdings and CG Corp Global Rahul Chaudhary said, “The acquisition of these two Fairmont assets in Kenya is a proud moment for us given that it signals our re-entry into East Africa, especially for our local partnership in this acquisition through our holding Company CG Madison (Kenya) Limited. With the Fairmont The Norfolk, we are really buying a piece of history which is priceless! This acquisition plays a very important role in our global vision to reach 200 properties by 2025. In this regard, we have mapped out a 5-country growth strategy in Africa, which we will henceforth pursue.”
CG Hospitality’s journey began in 2001, when Nepal’s only billionaire Binod
Chaudhary invested in Taj Samudra, Sri Lanka along with two other iconic Taj properties in the Maldives. The CG Group has in the last 19 years inked joint ventures with the Jetwing Group for Jetwing Vil Uyana and Jetwing Sea and the Ceylon Hotels Corporation as well as a partnership with Hatton Plantations.
Continuing his father’s entrepreneurial legacy, Rahul Chaudhary joined the already successful CG Corp Global in 2006 as Managing Director and has been spearheading the new hospitality properties in key destinations around the world.