The Sindh Institute Of Urology And Transplantation (SIUT) Trust has expressed its interest to purchase Karachi’s Regent Plaza, a four-star hotel in the country’s financial hub, for Rs14.5 billion (nearly $52 million).

The development was shared by Pakistan Hotels Developers Limited (PHDL), the owner of Regent Plaza Hotel, in its notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday.

“This is for the information that the company has received an offer letter of October 09, 2023 received on October 10, 2023 by hand from SIUT in respect of the purchase of Hotel Property (Regent Plaza),” it said in its notice.

PHDL added that its Board of Directors has called an urgent board meeting for October 12.

The development comes after SIUT Trust in its letter announced that it has “decided to acquire the property of PHDL referred to as Regent Plaza Hotel at Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi”.

“The SIUT Trust now offers to purchase the said property of any lien or charge for a sum of Rs14.50 billion on ‘as is where is’ basis.

“You are kindly requested to please accept and confirm us with your consent in writing so that a formal Sales Contract can be executed as per the earliest,” read the SIUT letter, urging the PHDL management to share the draft of the sales agreement for the transaction for the review by its legal counsel.

PHDL is engaged in the hotel business and owns and operates hotels known as Regent Plaza Hotel and Convention Centre, Karachi.

SIUT was formed four decades ago by Dr Syed Adibul Hasan Rizvi, a renowned Pakistani surgeon and philanthropist, to provide state-of-the-art medical care to all.

At present, SIUT is one of the leading healthcare institutions in Pakistan, providing a range of services, including urology, nephrology, and transplant surgery, and has a strong focus on research and education.