Evian Hilton - another Tumas Project

Evian mayor and MP Marc Francina was highly impressed with the boldness and beauty of the project in Portomaso and particularly the high standard of Hilton Malta. He was equally impressed with the grandeur of Valletta, when he was in Malta last month at the invitation of George Fenech, chairman of the Tumas Group.

Speaking in French with Georges Dahan, president and CEO of Thed International, an engineering and development company that is involved in the Evian Hilton project, acting as interpreter, Mr Francina said he was struck by the development going on, the renovation work in Valletta and by Malta's "exceptional people".

Speaking about Evian, Mr Francina said it is a traditional touristic and spa city that was slumbering up to 1995. A decision was then taken to push strongly for development and to market the city internationally.

An 850-berth marina was built, the giant Danone food group is to move one of its divisions to Evian from Paris and last year the city hosted a G8 summit of the leaders of the main industrialised nations.

I met Mr Francina, Mr Dahan and Philippe Baude, president of Generim, the French contractor building the hotel, at George Fenech's office at Portomaso amid loads of plans and designs for the new hotel.

Mr Fenech said that he is looking forward optimistically to this new venture, which demonstrates the group's standing in real estate and hospitality.

The new Hilton hotel, the foundation stone of which is being laid next Friday, will be the first major hotel to be built in Evian since 1904. Title to the 13,000 m2 site that was formerly a car park was transferred last July at a signing ceremony in Paris.

Mr Fenech confirmed that at the same meeting he also signed off the group's first financing by a foreign consortium of banks and set up a French company, which will eventually own the hotel structure. This, in addition to a management agreement, signed with Hilton, to operate the resort and spa.

Excavation of the site on Lac Leman involved the removal of 580,000 m2 of earth, the laying of a 12,800 m2 concrete liner and now the building of the 175-room four star superior hotel, which will include 34 suites, plus general conference and meeting facilities and, of course, a spa that will be the focal point of the hotel.

Mr Fenech was highly impressed with the mayor's positive attitude to ensure the success of the project. The road around the hotel has been redesigned to have a circular one-way system.

A roundabout was introduced and a pedestrian foot bridge is to be built at the council's expense to gain access to the nearby landing stage where ferries connect the city to Geneva and Lausanne.

A 100-year-old spa next door to the hotel is also to be renovated at the council's expense and, to underline the city's eagerness to promote Evian as a tourism and business destination, the council is investing in a conference centre, which will be sited at the old spa area.

The hotel project is being financed through a full pay-out finance lease agreement, which has been arranged with a number of major international credit institutions, led by BNP Paribas.

Tumas Group finance director Ray Sladden said: "The enthusiasm shown by the French banks was very encouraging. Their due diligence process of the group's activities followed in an excellent manner.

"We then closed the deal, representing another first for our group. The group's strategy is to continue to strengthen and consolidate its holdings in four major divisions, comprising 24 active companies involved in: management services; property; leisure and hospitality, including operating the Oracle Casino; and retailing, mainly in the automotive field.

"We are constantly evaluating the performance of the group's companies and seeking alternative and complementary investments to widen our portfolio. As property owners and in certain instances such as Evian, we involve strategic partners - in this case Hilton," he said.

The keys to the Evian Hilton are expected to be handed over in June, 2006.