IFA eyes mixed-use resort in Brazil

VACATION HOTSPOT: IFA HR is in talks to set up a mixed-use resort in Brazil. Picture for illustrative purposes only. (Getty Images)

Kuwait-based IFA Hotels & Resorts is in negotiations over establishing a mixed-use resort in Brazil as it expands its presence in emerging markets around the world, a senior executive has told Arabian Business.

Phillip de Sylva, IFA HR vice president of operations for African and the Indian Ocean, said the company is currently looking at several locations in the South American country and is in discussions with a major landowner about working together on the project.

“We are looking at one project to start off with [in Brazil], but there is potential in a very short space of time for much more,” de Sylva said in an interview in South Africa.

“There are specific locations we are looking at, the sites have been identified,” he added, without being more specific.

De Sylva said an announcement could be made by the end of 2008.

“The company has an appetite for acquisitions and expansion at the moment so there is no reason why something shouldn’t be announced before the end of the year,” he said.

De Sylva said the project will be similar to its Zimbali Coastal Resort in South Africa, an eco-friendly resort that includes hotels, villas, apartments and a golf course set within subtropical forest.

IFA HR, the largest private investor in Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah, is also looking at expansion into Mexico, Mauritius, Angola, Mozambique and Croatia, he said.

The company already has properties or projects underway in Dubai, Lebanon, the United States, Portugal, South Africa, Zanzibar, Kenya, Namibia, Thailand and the Seychelles.

De Sylva said the global economic downturn was providing IFA HR with a lot of opportunities for investment.

“I would say it [the global economic downturn] has had a positive impact in the sense that at times like this you can pick up deals at really good prices,” he said.

“I would not be surprised if over the next year new opportunities are given to us for consideration which will be very exciting.”

De Sylva said IFA HR is willing to pick up assets at reduced prices in the current economic climate and wait for the market to turn.

IFA HR last month announced a $200 million joint venture in Thailand with local developer Raimon Land to build a mixed-used resort called the Lofts South Shore.

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