Lemon Tree Hotels in talks to acquire Keys Hotels

Warburg Pincus–backed Lemon Tree Hotels has entered into a preliminary agreement to purchase Keys Hotels, a unit of New York’s Berggruen Hotels and the fourth largest mid-market hotel company in India.

The deal, which is still subject to conditions and due diligence, is expected to help increase Lemon Tree’s portfolio to 75 hotels in 44 cities with 7,322 rooms.

No financial figures were released for the potential transaction, however, local media reports indicated that the value for the set of loss-making assets was expected to be approximately $70 million.

The hotels owned by Keys include a total of 936 guest rooms in cities including Bangalore, Pune, Trivandrum and Ludhiana, as well as land parcels in Goa and Raipur for future developments.

In December 2017, Lemon Tree Hotels formed a co-living platform with an affiliate of Warburg Pincus. The joint ventur