Lemon Tree Hotels, India’s fastest growing hotel company, today announced that Shinsei Bank Limited and Kotak Realty Funds have jointly invested USD 30 million in the company for an equity stake of 5.9%, thereby valuing Lemon Tree Hotels at over USD 500 million. The transaction is via a secondary sale by existing shareholders.

Patu Keswani, Chairman and Managing Director, Lemon Tree Hotels said: “Whilst Kotak Realty Fund is already an existing investor, we now welcome Shinsei Bank as a strategic partner and investor in the company and look forward to their contribution to support our growth initiatives. We see this investment by a leading international investor as confirmation of their confidence in our track record and our objective of establishing Lemon Tree Hotels as India’s leading upscale hotel brand in the full-service, moderately priced category by 2010/2011.”

“This is an investment in India’s booming economy – no hotel company has matched Lemon Tree’s track record in growth,” said Sanjay Sachdev, head of Shinsei Corporate Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd., the Mumbai-based advisory arm of Shinsei Bank. “We are very excited about supporting Patu Keswani and his team in their strategic vision to strengthen the company’s position as India’s leading Hotel Company in the coming years.”

Surging domestic business travel and tourism across India has fuelled expansion among those hotels that are able to offer consumers a high quality product-service mix at reasonable rates. In line with its unique brand proposition, Lemon Tree Hotels promises it’s customers a memorable experience that is “refreshingly different”. These hotels aim to provide comprehensive business and leisure facilities in a fresh, fun and spirited environment. This includes well equipped rooms, front desk, business and conference center, coffee shop, room service, housekeeping and laundry facilities, all available 24X7 and run by experienced hotel professionals, at an extremely attractive price point. The hotels have been designed to be business and leisure friendly with fitness facilities, WiFi, a lounge bar and extensive entertainment and menu options. The first five hotels in India are already operating at over 80% year round occupancies, with over one quarter of the guests being repeat clientele.

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About Lemon Tree Hotels

Lemon Tree Hotels was promoted in 2002 and is rapidly creating a strong position within the hospitality sector in the moderately priced segment. The New Delhi based company which designs, develops, owns and manages all its properties, has five operating hotels in Gurgaon, Goa, Pune and Kaushambi (East Delhi). Eighteen more hotels, aggregating over 2500 rooms, are currently under development across India. On completion of all these ongoing projects by 2010/2011, the company will have a strong presence across 17 major Indian cities, including Gurgaon, Kaushambi (East Delhi), Pune, Goa, Indore, Aurangabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Shimla, Bhubaneshwar and Ranchi. (Website: www.lemontreehotels.com)

About Shinsei Bank

Shinsei Bank is a leading diversified Japanese financial institution providing a full range of financial products and services to both institutional and retail customers based on a three-pillar strategic business model comprising institutional banking, consumer and commercial finance and retail banking. The Bank has total assets of US$104 billion on a consolidated basis (as of December 2007) and a network of 42 outlets that includes 36 Shinsei Financial Centers, 2 Platinum Centers and 4 BankSpots (as of February 2008) in Japan. Shinsei Bank demands uncompromising levels of integrity and transparency in all its activities to earn the trust of customers, staff and shareholders. The Bank is committed to delivering long-term profit growth and increasing value for all its stakeholders.

About Kotak Realty Fund

Kotak Mahindra is one of India's leading financial conglomerates, offering a wide range of financial services that encompass every sphere of life. From commercial banking, to car finance, to stock broking, to asset management, to life insurance, to investment banking, the group caters to the financial needs of individuals and corporates.

The group has a net worth of around Rs.56 billion, employs over 17,100 people in its various businesses and has a distribution network of more than 1,250 branches, franchisees, representative offices and satellite offices around 344 cities and towns in India and offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Dubai, Mauritius and Singapore, servicing around 3.6 million customer accounts.