Louvre Hotels to shop big in India with $100 million kitty.

Louvre Hotels Group, Europe's No. 2 budget operator, will invest over $100 million (about Rs. 600 crore) in the Indian hospitality space over the next three years, a top company executive said.

Louvre Hotels was recently acquired by Jin Jiang International Holdings, China's biggest hotel company, from US investment group Starwood Capital

'The new owners have asked us to put together a plan to acquire assets in India and grow the brand inorganically rather than organic,' Vimal J Singh, managing director for South Asia at Louvre Hotels Group and Golden Tulip Hospitality Group, told ET. The new management has aggressive investment plans, Singh added.

Until now, Louvre Hotels has grown its portfolio in India through management contracts. 'Starwood Capital's vision was the service business and they were not looking at investments in the hotel space,' Singh said, adding that acquiring assets now will accelerate the growth further. In India, the hotel chain owns brands like Royal Tulip, Golden Tulip and Tulip Inn.

ET