Banyan Group takes majority stake in Newmark Hotels, adding 26 African properties
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Singapore's Banyan Group has acquired a majority stake in Newmark Hotels & Reserves, adding 26 hotels, lodges and game reserves across seven African countries. Founder Neil Markovitz stays on as chief executive.
Neil Markovitz has sold a majority stake in Newmark Hotels & Reserves to Singapore's Banyan Group, handing the operator 26 hotels, lodges and game reserves across seven African countries. The price was not disclosed. The properties are located in South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Mauritius.
Markovitz will continue as chief executive with his existing management team. Banyan said day-to-day operations, property branding, owner relationships and commercial arrangements will remain unchanged, with Newmark keeping its own name as a collection brand.
Markovitz founded the company in 2007, having worked in Cape Town hospitality since 1990, including a spell as general manager of the Victoria & Alfred Hotel. Newmark manages rather than owns its properties, and runs them as distinct businesses rather than folding them into a single brand; the portfolio ranges from city hotels to the QWABI and Motswari private game reserves in South Africa, Future Found Sanctuary in Cape Town and Gorilla Heights Lodge in Uganda.
Eddy See, Banyan's president and chief executive, called Africa a long-term growth market and said Newmark brings an established management business, long-standing owner relationships and operating capability that strengthen the group's asset-light model of running hotels without tying up capital in owning them.
Markovitz framed the deal as reach rather than an exit, saying nearly two decades of building through strong teams, trusted owner relationships and a portfolio where each property keeps its own identity had prepared the business for greater international reach and a wider network of expertise.
The properties remain bookable directly through Newmark's own website and will move onto Banyan's platforms over time, joining its guest rewards programme. Banyan already had four hotels and spas in Morocco, Mauritius, South Africa and Tanzania; the acquisition takes the group to nearly 130 hotels, resorts and reserves across 28 countries.