US hotel giant Marriott have finalized a deal to buy the Protea group, one of Africa’s largest hotel chain for US$186m (sh461b). An official at Kampala Protea Hotel confirmed the take-over bid.In Uganda the company manages three properties, including the Kampala Protea Hotel, located in Kololo, Kampala; the Entebbe Protea Hotel, adjacent to Entebbe International Airport and the Mbale Protea Hotel, near Mt Elgon, located in Mbale district.A fourth property, the Hoima Protea Hotel is currently under development in the Western Ugandan town of Hoima, in the oil-rich Albertine Graben.Kampala Protea Hotel is owned by Patrick Bitature, one of Uganda’s business moguls. It was not possible to get a comment from him as his phone kept ringing and he did not answer. It was also not possible to get a detailed comment at the hotel as the general manager was said to be in a meeting.“Marriott and Protea plan to close the transaction on April 1, 2014,” the firms said in a statement. Read more