Tokyo-based Hotel Okura Co. on Thursday completed its
acquisition of a majority stake in JAL Hotels Co.
Hotel Okura, which has a portfolio of more than 20 hotels
mostly in Japan, bought a nearly 80 percent stake in JAL Hotels from Japan
Airlines Corp., which earlier this year filed for the Japanese equivalent of
bankruptcy protection. JAL established the hotel subsidiary in 1970, and it has
a portfolio of nearly 60 hotels, including properties under the luxury Nikko
Hotels International brand and the business-travel-focused Hotel JAL City
brand.
JAL's airline unit is retaining an 11.1 percent stake in the
hotel unit, according to Kyodo News International. Additionally, Hotel Okura
executive director Marcel van Aelst has taken the post of JAL Hotels president.