Egypt's Orascom Development will build two Four Seasons-branded hotels, one in an Egyptian resort and the other in Oman, by second-half 2011 for a total investment of $245 million, a newspaper said on Wednesday. One hotel will be in the Red Sea resort of El-Gouna, with a capacity of 150 rooms and 60 villas. It will cost $85 million, Al-Mal newspaper reported, and be financed through a LE 350 million ($61.4 million) medium-term loan. The second hotel, in Oman, will have a capacity of 200 rooms and 75 villas and will cost $160 million. Zurich-listed Orascom is considering whether to finance the project with Omani corporate bonds, the newspaper reported. Orascom officials were not immediately available for comment to Reuters. Investment bank Beltone Financial said the news was positive and was part of Orascom's strategy to expand its hotel portfolio in Egypt and abroad. The hotel segment has accounted for a third of Orascom's revenues over the past three years, Beltone said in a statement. Orascom Development, which has projects in the Middle East and Europe in addition to its main base in Egypt, uses the pre-sale of homes as a main source of finance.
