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KSL Capital invests in luxury resort brand Soneva

Fathmath Shaahunaz
02 December 2019, MVT 12:57
An aerial view of Soneva Fushi in the Biosphere reserve of Baa Atoll. PHOTO/SONEVA
Fathmath Shaahunaz
02 December 2019, MVT 12:57

An affiliate of private equity firm, KSL Capital Partners, has invested in a minority stake in the luxury resort brand, Soneva.

Soneva declared that the new partnership with KSL will support Soneva's short- and long-term development goals while also underscoring the attractiveness of the brand.

Regarding the investment, Tina Yu, a principal at KSL said, "The more we have gotten to know Soneva, the more excited we are about the opportunities to help Soneva grow. At KSL, we invest solely in travel and leisure, and we recognize the power of the Soneva brand platform in the expanding market for luxury experiential travel. Soneva has 25 years of experience operating at the very highest level and have been pioneers in creating rare authentic experiences for their guests. We look forward to a long and successful partnership with Soneva and its management team”.

In addition, Sailing Capital, which had invested in Soneva in 2014, redeemed its investment in the resort brand as part of KSL's investment.

"Soneva has been a great investment for Sailing Capital”, said Liang Tsui, the CEO of the company. “We have enjoyed a very productive partnership with Soneva and together we have realised the opening of Soneva Jani, a highly acclaimed environmentally sustainable luxury resort, delivered a healthy return on our investment, and are very pleased to see Soneva being ideally positioned for future growth. Whilst our partnership with Soneva is ending, our friendship with the company will continue well into the future".

Soneva highlighed that it was able to expand its portfolio in Maldives with support from Sailing Capital, in particular the 2016 opening of the award-winning Soneva Jani in Noonu Aoll.

"We are immensely grateful to Sailing Capital for the faith it showed in Soneva and our management team. Sailing has been instrumental in our success to date”, said Soneva's CEO Sonu Shivdasani. “We are delighted to welcome KSL as our partner in Soneva. We have many exciting plans, and I cannot imagine better partners to help execute the next stage of Soneva’s growth".

Soneva was founded in 1995 by Sonu Shivdasani and Eva Malmström Shivdasani. Currently, the brand operates Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani in the Maldives, and Soneva Kiri in Thailand.

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