Ipic Properties Acquires 16-Hotel Country Hotels Group
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Private property investor Ipic Properties has acquired the Country Hotels group, adding 16 hotels and lodges with 638 rooms across South Africa’s Western and Northern Cape to its portfolio.
Ipic Properties has acquired Country Hotels, a hospitality group with 16 hotels and lodges comprising 638 rooms across the Western and Northern Cape, broadening the private property investor’s portfolio beyond retail into the hospitality sector.
The acquisition also extends Ipic’s geographic footprint into the Northern Cape, where Country Hotels operates properties in towns including Springbok, Pofadder, Upington, Kakamas, Kathu, Kuruman and Postmasburg.
Country Hotels will retain its name, management and staff following the transaction. Its long-standing chief operating officer, Craig Carmichael, who has worked in the hospitality industry since 1995 and has been Country Hotels’ COO since 2021, has been appointed CEO. “Country Hotels has built a strong presence in the communities it serves, and continuity will be important as we move into this next phase,” Carmichael said.
The group was founded in 2011, and its portfolio includes the Clanwilliam Hotel, Calvinia Hotel and Tankwa Lodge, Springbok Inn and Namastat Lodge, the Orange River Rafting Lodge in Vioolsdrif, and properties in Pofadder, Kakamas, Upington, Kathu, Kuruman and Postmasburg.
For Ipic, the deal marks a move into a new property segment after more than two decades of investment in Western Cape retail. Founded by Rian Maartens in 2004, the company has built a portfolio of 10 Western Cape retail properties covering more than 65,000 square metres. Carmichael said the focus will be on “strengthening that foundation, investing in the guest experience and maintaining consistently high standards across the portfolio”. Ipic said it also intends to continue Country Hotels’ existing community and charitable activities. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.