Cresta buys Zambian hotel

The agreement entails the sale to Cresta of the movable assets of the hotel and a lease of the immovable property of the hotel. Total consideration in respect of the business is $2.5 million.Cresta, which is the operating company for eight Cresta Hotels in Botswana, has revealed that the consideration will be satisfied through a loan of P20 million that the company sourced from Barclays Bank Botswana Limited. The $2.5m represents 14 percent of Cresta's market capitalisation as at 20 January 2012.

The hotel group has noted that the sale and purchase is conditional upon regulatory approvals and other customary conditions precedent, among them approval of the acquisition by the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE).Benefits expected to accrue to Cresta as a result of the transaction include increased profits and an improved balance sheet.