Shangri-La Asia Ltd has agreed to buy a 26 percent stake in a luxury hotel in New York for an unspecified amount, the South China Morning Post reported.

 

The company will also manage the 206-room hotel, which is scheduled to open in 2010, the Hong Kong-based newspaper said, citing a company spokesman it didn't identify. The Manhattan hotel will cost between US$500 million and US$550 million, the paper said.

 

It will be the first investment by Shangri-La in the US market, the report said. The group, controlled by Malaysian's richest person, Robert Kuok, manages 50 hotels.

 

Shangri-La Asia is the region's biggest luxury-hotel operator.

 

 

(Shanghai Daily May 11, 2007)