Raffles to expand in the UK?

Raffles Holdings, owner of the historic Raffles hotel in Singapore and Brown's hotel in London, expects to raise S$255m (£95.5m) from its flotation on the Singapore stock exchange.

The money raised will fund expansion, capital expenditure and the repayment of loans. Some of the cash could help buy a new hotel in the UK.

Peter Davies, general manager at Brown's, said the group was looking at a couple of luxury properties in the UK.

The global share offer, which opened today and closes on 9 December, involves 300 million ordinary shares each priced at S$0.85 (32p).

Richard Helfer, president and chief executive of Raffles, said expansion would be "aggressively pursued" through management contracts and selective acquisitions.

The group owns or manages eight hotels and resorts, with another eight planned that will boost bedroom numbers from 3,238 to more than 6,000.

Its portfolio also includes the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg, Germany, and the Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

by Angela Frewin