Arkia Airlines Ltd. has signed a letter of intent to buy the Hod Hamidbar Hotel at the Dead Sea from the H.A.AL Pension Fund, managed by Psagot Investment House Ltd. unit Psagot Pensions Ltd. Psagot had previously tried to sell the five-star hotel to Fattal Hotel Management Ltd. for NIS 121.5 million.
The hotel, at Ein Bokek along the shore of the southern basis of the Dead Sea, has 203 rooms, spa, swimming pool, and 450-seat banquet hall.
Arkia's owners, the Nakash family, owns the Tsell Harim Hotel at the Dead Sea, through Orchid Hotel Management, which bought at the Siesta Hotel from Leon Recanati's Gmul Investment Co. Ltd. (TASE: GMUL) for NIS 76 million. Collaboration between the adjacent Dead Sea hotels is possible.
Orchid Hotel Management owns several hotels in Israel, including the Siesta Hotel, the Orchid Hotel, and the Orchid Reef Hotel in Eilat, as well as the Park Plaza and the Orchid Hotel in Tel Aviv. It is also building hotels in Jaffa and by the Kinneret.
Arkia confirmed the report. Psagot Pensions was unavailable for comment.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 19, 2011
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011