New Delhi, May 12: The Suresh Nanda-owned Claridges Hotels and Resorts is planning to come out with an initial public offering of Rs 500 crore in the next three years.

“We want to convert the Delhi property into a 120-suite boutique hotel. We also have plans to buy a five-star hotel by next year. In order to raise money to support our expansion plans, we will most likely float an IPO in the next three years,” Nanda told The Telegraph.

The group is looking out for a five-star property either in Mumbai, Bangalore or Kerala. It is in talks with four players in these cities. “We are ready to fork out Rs 200-250 crore to buy a property at a prime locality in Mumbai. For places like Kerala and Bangalore, our budget will not cross more than Rs 70 crore and Rs 120 crore for the two locations respectively.”

Nanda, who bought the Claridges for Rs 96 crore in April last year, has made profit to the tune of Rs 4 crore for fiscal 2003-04. However, the company is targeting a minimum profit of Rs 10 crore for the current financial year, he said.

Sharing his plans for the property located in Lutyen’s, Delhi, Nanda said, “We are just waiting for the new government to be in place. In the next two months we will apply to the Delhi government for its approval to dismantle the hotel.” He added that if the group gets a green signal from the Delhi government, there is a possibility of even coming up with service apartments as a separate wing. “Right now everything is very fluid. If things work out, we might get some designers from the west to re-design it into a boutique hotel.”

Denying any overseas expansion plans by the Claridges group, Nanda said, “We want to establish a firm footing in the domestic market. Unless we set up our own brand and strong management capability in India, we do not plan to look to the West immediately.”