hollywood billionaire

Chapter 448: Rixos and Maranatha

"Well, this is a bit tricky..."

Looking at the information in front of her, Xu Yiru frowned slightly.

“There is no doubt that they have a strong presence in the Middle East. There are 11 hotels in Turkey, four in the UAE, three in Egypt, and their presence even extends all the way to Central Asia, with four branches in Kazakhstan.”

"And then it's expanding to Europe." McGrady leaned his head over, "Let me see, Davos, Sochi, Dubrovnik? No matter where it is, it sounds like it has a long history."

"Dubrovnik is where they filmed Game of Thrones," Han Yi explained. "King's Landing."

"Oh, wow, okay." Although he didn't really like this kind of TV series, McGrady followed the crowd and watched a few episodes. "They are quite good at choosing the location."

"The performance is also good. We have more than 1400 followers on social media, the official website receives 2015 million hits per year, and the total revenue exceeded US$3.3 million in fiscal 3. The average length of stay of local guests is 4-8 days, and the average length of stay of international tourists is 10-189 days. We are the winner of the World Travel Award. The average revenue per room for the entire group is US$250, but in Turkey, the figure is US$370, and in the UAE, it is US$." Xu Yiru carefully flipped through the investment manual of the Rexos Group.

"It sounds like a profitable business." Madison didn't need to be good at math to smell money from these numbers.

"So, what do you think? Ah, thank you, Sophia."

Han Yi stopped talking and quietly thanked Sophia who was cleaning the table.

"You're welcome, Mr. Han." Sophia responded with a warm smile, "Can I get you and the ladies some drinks?"

"Give me a cup of Moroccan mint tea, please."

"No problem." Sophia's eyes moved clockwise around the table. "What about the ladies?"

"Oh, I don't need that." Madison thought for a moment and waved her hand, "A glass of ice water will be fine, thank you."

"I haven't finished this yet." Xu Yiru pointed at the glass of Arizona iced tea in front of her. Like Han Yi, it was her habit to have a drink with dinner, and Arizona iced tea was their common hobby. "But thank you."

"Okay, if you need anything, just tell me, okay?" Sophia cast a gentle look at the last person at the table, "Yujin, what about you?"

Sophia's voice was not loud, but it was definitely not small either. However, Zhao Youzhen seemed not to have heard it at all. His eyes were fixed on the screen of his mobile phone, and it was unknown what he was looking at or what he was thinking about.

"Miss Zhao?"

"Mom." Maddie reached out and tapped on Youzhen's phone case, "Sophia is calling you."

"Oh, ah... dinner was delicious. Thank you for your service, Sophia. Please also thank Felix and Harold for me." Zhao Youzhen, who was obviously not listening, answered irrelevantly. She held the phone and sat there for two seconds, then suddenly frowned, "Wait, did you just call me 'Mom'?"

"Yeah, to get your attention." Madison grinned. "Who's been distracting you on their phone? Who's the lucky guy?"

"Who told you that you can ask parents questions like this?" Zhao Youzhen rolled his eyes and joked with her seriously.

"I have a right to know who will be my other parent, right?"

“Give Yujin something that will help her sleep, like chamomile tea or something hot like that.”

Han Yi coughed twice and helped Zhao Youzhen make a decision.

what happened?

Why does she seem a little absent-minded?
Han Yi carefully observed Zhao Youzhen who then turned his attention back to his phone, and thought to himself.

This afternoon, while Jordan Bromley was still in a meeting with them, Yuzhen went out to answer a phone call, which was not long, only two or three minutes. After she came back, she has been in this state of trance.

“Is it okay, Yujin?”

"Ah?" The Korean girl looked up again in confusion. "It's all fine. You decide. I think every project is good."

"Yi is asking what you want to drink." Maddie reminded in a low voice.

"Are you okay?" Han Yi smiled and frowned, "I felt like you were absent-minded all night."

"I'm fine, just a little bit..." Zhao Youzhen glanced at the screen again, then turned the phone upside down on the table and let out a long sigh, "Okay, where are you guys discussing this? I saw it, Rixos, right?"

"Yes." Han Yi nodded. "What is your position on this project?"

"It's profitable," Yu-jin said simply, "but it's not for you."

“That’s an interesting argument.”

"It's not an argument, it's a fact." Yuzhen stretched out an index finger and pressed it on the back of the phone. "You said it yourself. You won't personally become a competitor in an industry you are not familiar with. By investing in Rexos and forming a joint venture with it, you actually become a new player in the hotel industry. I know this is something you don't want to do."

"That's one of the reasons. Another reason is..." Xiaoru quickly added, "These assets are too far away from us. They are all in a market environment that you don't understand or have no relationship with. I think this is the most worrying potential risk that you must consider."

"Yeah, I don't even know... where this so-called Astana is." McGrady continued, "Kazakhstan sounds too exotic... Why buy a hotel in a country you may never go to? Even if it can make money. In the United States or Europe, this price can buy a lot of other hotels or similar assets, which can help you make more money, and you can see it anytime, anywhere."

"I'm not... praising American-centrism." Madison, who has recently received a lot of professional PR training, quickly realized the holes in her words. She raised her hands and filled them one by one with skilled PR words. "Of course, people living in other parts of the world have the right to live a luxurious life, and I believe the hotel industry there is also booming. I just mean that if the property is closer to where you live, it will be easier for you to control it."

"Your speech is becoming more and more Hollywood-like, which I like." Han Yi joked, "But seriously, I agree with all your views on this investment proposal. I have no intention of starting a hotel management company from scratch. That will take up a full 10 to 20 years of my life. I plan to use these 10 to 20 years to do something else that is more meaningful to me."

"What's more... yes, these assets are indeed too far away from me."

Türkiye, UAE, Egypt, Croatia, Russia, Kazakhstan. There was nothing wrong with these places, but he just couldn't get much satisfaction from them.

Bought a hotel overlooking King's Landing? That meant nothing to him.

He himself did not like this story, which was a straightforward copy of the War of the Roses without any use of brains.

Both the novel and the TV series.

"I will tell Jordan not to spend too much energy on this project... Of course, never reject anything outright. I will still pay close attention to the progress of the Rixos investment case and which companies in the market have shown interest in it."

“I feel like…” Xiaoru drawled out her voice, organizing her thoughts and words, “Although this is not a suitable investment for you, it would be a perfect strategic move for some large hotel groups if they wanted to enter these markets.”

"That's true." Han Yi agreed deeply.

“And they are your real investment targets.”

"So let's wait and see who they are." Han Yi put Rixos's information aside with a smile, "Okay, the last two... Do you think Mara is taking him too far?"

"of course not!"

Xiaoru and Maddie gave the answer almost in unison.

"Wow, calm down." Han Yi was a little surprised by their reactions. "What makes you so excited about Mara taking him?"

“Because it’s in France.”

"Ah, yes."

Han Yi understood instantly.

Few girls can say no to a luxurious hotel in France.

"Not because I like France."

With just one glance, Xu Yiru could see the true thoughts hidden behind Han Yi's subtle expression changes. She pursed her lips and corrected him:

"Or in a certain context, you could say it's because I like France. In fact, it would be more correct to say that the vast majority of tourists like France."

"France should be... the second most popular tourist destination in the world, right?" Madison raised his eyelids and thought, "I remember reading somewhere that China seems to be the country that attracts the most tourists every year."

"In fact, the place with the most international tourists has always been France." Han Yi shook his head. "I remember that in 2015...last year's data should be 8500 million tourists. And it has been basically the same every year, very stable."

"It seems so." Xiaoru asked Google when she was undecided, and her fingertips moved on the phone screen, "And... well, the mainland doesn't seem to be second. The United States is second, with 7750 million people. Spain is third, with 6820 million people."

"How many mainland names are there?"

"Fourth, 5690 million people."

"It's really surprising. I knew France was popular, but I didn't expect it to be that popular." Madison nodded. "However, this ranking can also more effectively prove our point - if you want to invest in the hotel industry, France is the best place. Just like if you want to invest in movies or music, you have to come to Hollywood."

"France has 616 five-star hotels, while the United States has 1067. Calculated by land area, the density of luxury hotels in France is 15 times that of the United States." Once you are in a dilemma and ask Google, you will always see a lot of information that seems useful but is actually meaningless. "And the Maranatta Hotel Group owns 58 of them, making it the fourth largest hotel group in France."

"Are you sure? 58 five-star hotels?" Han Yi opened the brochure of the Maranatta Hotel left by Jordan and reviewed it line by line.

"Sorry, I misread it... It's 58 luxury hotels, most of which are four-star hotels."

Xu Yiru touched her head. There was basically no information about the Maranatta Hotel in English. Most of it was in French websites and French media. Xiaoru could make sure she understood it, but she had to calm down and read it. If she read it a little faster, she would make the same mistake as before.

"But this is indeed a group that is growing very fast. I have never seen a company that is growing so fast in Europe. A local company in Marseille, it started in the Alps and spread to the south and Paris. In 2008, it only had 4 hotels, but this year it has 58."

"In April last year, they also bought six old five-star hotels from the Leroy family for 4 million euros, including the properties."

"The report in Le Figaro said that the son and daughter of Robert Le Roy, the previous head of the Le Roy family, had been at odds for a long time. After his death in September 2014, the two decided to go their separate ways and sell the family's only remaining hotel business. The original price was more than 9 million euros."

"But in January 2015, the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris hit the confidence of the hotel industry and the real estate market, and many assets were sold at very low prices... The same is true for these six luxury hotels. 1 million euros, a 3.5% discount on the listing price."

"Olivier Carvin, CEO of Maranatta Hotels Group, is very proud of this. He said that since November 2014, the market competition for these rare assets has been very fierce. The acquisition of these six hotels from the Leroy family at the current price will greatly benefit the development of Maranatta, allowing the group to lighten its load and use a more flexible financial strategy to meet future challenges. "

"Travel light? Is that what he said?"

"His exact words were, 'Pour alléger la fusée', 'Reduce the weight of the rocket.'" Xiaoru narrowed her eyes, read the words carefully again, then nodded slightly and responded.

"His so-called light travel caused him great harm."

Han Yi laughed dumbly.

“In eight years, we have opened 8 new hotels, a considerable number of which are self-owned properties.”

"No wonder their cash accounts are so depleted that they have no other options and are looking for help from all over the world."

"If no white knight appears, the entire group will go into receivership."

(End of this chapter)