WELCOME TO
SENGA BAY CAPITAL
Senga Bay Capital is an advisory boutique focused on the hotel industry. We offer asset management, project finance, project development, hotel portfolio optimisation and other advisory services. Senga Bay Capital has provided asset management services to a Milanese hotel that has seen its profits triple since our involvement. We also assist in developing and structure hotel and resort projects internationally and in raising capital for them.
Senga Bay Capital works with owners, operators, travel companies, investors and lenders. Every engagement is unique and we take great care to understand each situation before recommending solutions.
EQUITY FINANCE
Equity financing refers to the sale of shares to raise funds. It’s normally appropriate for companies unable to raise debt financing, already highly levered, early-stage in the company life cycle or as a means of including a strategic partner.
PROJECT FINANCE
Project financing is long-term financing based on the future cash flows of infrastructure, real estate, industrial and other similar projects.
The financing plan should include the appropriate sharing of risks and as much certainty as possible.
HOTEL SECTOR SPECIALISATION
The asset management of hotels, the financing and development of hotel projects and the acquisition and disposal of hotel assets requires sector-specific expertise. This relates to their operational, accounting, finance, marketing & distribution and valuation practices.
Our services include
COMMERCIAL DUE DILIGENCE WORK
Whether you’re considering an acquisition, disposal, joint venture or merger, we’re experienced in commercial due diligence work and can help. Engaging us will help ensure that you know what you’re getting yourself into and that the valuation of the property, project or business is fair and that the information provided by your business counterpart is accurate.
COMPANY AND PROJECT VALUATIONS
We are experienced in using a myriad of valuation models, including discounted cash flows, historical earnings and forward earnings. We’re able to provide fair and independent valuations that you’ll be able to use to benchmark and negotiate mergers, acquisitions, business funding and project finance arrangements.
ASSET MANAGEMENT SERVICES
As an independent party, we’re able to review and analyse the hotel’s performance, operations, marketing efforts, branding, competitors and guest proposition objectively and then set meaningful targets and make recommendations without any bias, other than optimising its operations and its business plans, as well as the value of the property in the long term.
HOTEL PORTFOLIO OPTIMISATION
We have developed a rigorous methodology for evaluating hotel portfolios with the aim of optimising them for future investment returns using a number of different levers, including: Refurbishing, Rebranding, Repositioning, Disposals, Acquisitions. The outcome of the assignment is a thoroughly researched set of actions that can be implemented to improve the portfolio’s financial and operational perfromance and its long-term value.
CAPITAL RAISING
We can assist you in rasing both debt and equity for your hotel project or business. We have an extensive network of contacts amongst the banks, non-bank lenders, private equity funds, hotel investment funds, family offices and HNWIs and can assist in marketing your capital raising project to them, as well as valuing and structuring the transaction and in negotiating the deal and managing the legal processes.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
In the early stages of projects there is often a need to drive results and execute the business plan to a point where there project is bankable or able to attract a dedicated team. We’re able to fill that void and manage the project’s development with the Sponsor’s support and supervision.
Dr. Richard von Kalmar
Partner
Richard founded Senga Bay Capital in 2014, specialising in the development of new hotel projects and, subsequently, the asset management and performance optimisation of operational properties. He has since been involved in a long list of hotel projects, including both branded and unbranded properties. He also serves on the board of Wahed Invest, an investment management company that manages NASDAQ-listed ETFs and has USD 2 billion under management and serves as an Advisor to Stream Innovation, a global payments business. After his education in Scotland, Richard started his career with Standard Bank in Johannesburg. He later became a management consultant and worked on project finance, strategy and corporate finance assignments. He holds an MBA in Finance from Edinbugh Business School and a Doctorate in Industrial Economics from Cranfield University.
Brendan Gillespie
Partner
Brendan has over 25 years’ experience in the hotel sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Africa and has led professional teams involved in 61 acquisitions, with a total transaction value in excess of USD 750m. He’s been the Finance Director of both private and listed companies and was instrumental in the listing of Macdonald Hotels Plc on the LSE. Between 2011 and 2015, Brendan was employed by Lonrho Hotels, Johannesburg, initially as its VP, Finance and then as its CEO. Brendan has also been employed by Morethanhotels, Portland Hotels, Stakis Plc, KPMG in Glasgow and Price Waterhouse in Sydney, where he started his career. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and holds a BA in Accountancy and an MBA from Strathclyde University. He completed the FD as Strategic Partner programme at the Wharton Business School.
Linda Gallo
Communications Advisor
Linda Gallo has over 20 years‘ professional experience in marketing and corporate communications. Her professional experience includes leading tourism destination strategy and branding projects for Israel, Egypt and Turkey. At Senga Bay Capital, she is responsible for the development and execution of hotel marketing and distribution strategies, as well as co-ordinating research and development for client engagements. Formerly, she was a senior consultant and account director and directed German-wide campaigns and public relation engagements for Germany’s top ranked PR agencies and global network agencies, such as Publicis. Her clients in trade & industry included Generali, the German Portuguese Cork association, Lidl and Shell. She is a graduate in Business Communications (M.A.) from the University of the Arts in Berlin.
Omer Kaddouri
Advisor
Omer looks back at a 32-year career in hospitality, that started at the London Kensington Hilton in 1987 after a Swiss hotel school education. He also worked for Hilton in the UAE, followed by Shangri-La Hotels in Malaysia. Thereafter, he joined Rotana Hotels in Dubai, holding various operational and management positions for 15 years, before becoming the President & CEO. Omer played a key role in the signing, pre-opening and opening of more than 50 hotels throughout the Middle East and Africa. His strong operational experience, creative mindset, sound financial background and commitment to employee development contributed to Rotana becoming a preeminent hotel company and brand competing with the international brands in the region. After 20 years with Rotana, Omer decided to leave the Middle East and is now based in Amsterdam.
