Wikipedia

Kabir Mulchandani

Kabir Mulchandani is an Indian-born, Dubai-based real estate and hospitality businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and Chairman of FIVE Holdings, which includes FIVE Hotels and Resorts; FIVE Palm Jumeirah, FIVE Jumeirah Village, FIVE Zurich, FIVE LUXE, and FIVE Music along with The Pacha Group. He is ranked as one of the Richest and Most Powerful Indians in the Persian Gulf region.[1][2][3][4] He is ranked number 24 on the Top 100 Travel and Tourism leaders of 2023 by Forbes Middle East.[5]

Kabir Mulchandani
Born (1972-10-06) 6 October 1972 (age 51)
Mumbai, India
NationalityIndian
EducationStanford University, Phillips Exeter Academy
SpouseNadia Zaal

Early life and education edit

For the 1992-93 school year, he pursued his undergraduate studies at Stanford University, in the United States, where he majored in industrial engineering, and earlier graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy. Prior to that he attended the elite Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai.

Career edit

Baron Electronics edit

Mulchandani served at Baron International and Baron Electronics, two Mumbai-based, family-owned firms that specialised in the distribution and sale of consumer electronics.[6]

SKAI Real Estate edit

In 2011, he founded SKAI Holdings, a Dubai-based real estate investment firm. In 2013, SKAI revealed plans for a luxurious hotel on Dubai's man made Palm Jumeirah, and signed up Viceroy, the Los Angeles based hotel management company to brand and manage the property.

He was quickly celebrated as the comeback king of Dubai in the local media,[7] along with Aloki Batra,[4][8][9] CEO, FIVE Hospitality and The Pacha Group, Jaydeep Anand, Group CFO CSO, FIVE and COO and Nabil Akiki, CEO of FIVE Development.[10]

At the end of 2016, SKAI officially completed building the $1.17 billion Palm Jumeirah Dubai hotel with 477 rooms and 221 residences.[11]

FIVE Hotels and Resorts edit

In 2017, Mulchandani changed his company's name from SKAI to FIVE.[12] The Viceroy Palm Jumeirah hotel opened on 31 March 2017.[13] In June 2017, FIVE terminated Viceroy as its hotel manager, and the Viceroy Palm Jumeirah was rebranded as FIVE Palm Jumeirah.[14] The hotel including 475 rooms and apartments, 222 luxury residences, the beach, spa, salon and 14 F&B venues .[15]

FIVE Jumeirah Village opened in September 2019 with 501 hotel rooms and residences and 6 F&B venues.[16][17]

FIVE Zurich opened in 2022 with 45 luxurious suites, 42 suite sized lifestyle rooms and more recently added, 62 Amazing Rooms.[18][19]

FIVE LUXE which is ready to be launched in the first quarter of 2024 with 222 hotels rooms and suites and 274 residences.[20][21][22] The 3 bedroom penthouse within the residential tower, Sensoria was sold for 75 million AED ($20 million).[21][23]

The FIVE brand has been awarded the 10th place at the Best Workplaces in the UAE in 2023 by Great Place To Work as a hotel with some of the happiest employees in the Middle East.[24][25]

FIVE Music edit

In 2021, FIVE Hotels and Resorts launched its own record label FIVE Music to produce a hand crafted portfolio of the worlds music.[26][27]

In 2023, FIVE Music entered into a partnership with Warner Music Group, which will allow Mulchandani's brand to sign new talent and renowned artists.[28]

Alongside the label, FIVE launched the FIVE Music Studio at Dubai's FIVE Palm Jumeirah, which offers a place where producers, musicians and writers can meet and collaborate.[29][30]

Fly FIVE edit

In November 2021, Mulchandani and FIVE Holdings purchases the first ACJ TwoTwenty from Airbus and Comlux Group in Switzerland.[31][32][33] The 16-seat jet consists of a dining table for eight passengers, a master suite, and a kitchen, with a full crew on board.[33] The aircraft registered 9H-FIVE, to be pronounced "Nine-Hotel-FIVE" entered the market in May 2023.[34] Combining a bizjet with FIVE hospitality and entertainment.[33] In June 2023, The Guardian named the jet as a private "party jet".[35]

The Pacha Group edit

In October 2023, FIVE Holdings completed acquisition of a 100% equity interest in the legendary nightlife entity, the Pacha Group, in a landmark deal valued at $322.1 million (€303 million).[36] The acquisition comprises a range of assets that includes the Pacha Nightclub, Destino Pacha Hotel, El Hotel Pacha, Toy Room Club, and WooMoon Storytellers (Globally) as well as registered trademarks such as the brand name "Pacha" (Globally) and its distinctive logo design featuring cherries (Globally).[37][38] The acquisition was funded through the issuance of a Green Bond and a Revolving Credit Facility (RCF).[39][36]

Sustainability edit

Kabir Mulchandani presented at Reuters NEXT in New York City on November 30, 2022.[40] The presentation featured a ready-to-implement net zero electricity building design as part of FIVE Holdings' sustainable development strategy.[41] The tower primarily applies a solar panel façade to generate 103.1% of the building's calculated electricity demand, producing 5,781 Mwh. FIVE consulted international environmental design consultant Atelier 10 and global architectural firm AE7 to design the project. FIVE's net zero electricity tower applies the copyrighted core and shell of FIVE's operational FIVE Jumeirah Village hotel in moving towards a net zero energy model.[40][41] All of the hotels in the FIVE brand are LEED platinum certification for sustainability with FIVE Zurich being the only hotel in Switzerland with this rating at the time of certificate in February 2023.[19][42]

In July 2023, FIVE became the first and only hotel in the UAE to obtain International Renewable Energy Certificate (I-REC) to achieve 100% renewable electricity from Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA).[43] The solar park is the largest single-site solar park in the world, using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. It will have a production capacity of 5,000MW by 2030 with a total investment of AED 50 billion.[44]

Kabir Mulchandani's FIVE Holdings is ranked No 1 Green Developer for sustainable building by Construction Week Middle East for commitment to sustainable construction practices, innovation in green construction, use of renewable energy sources, waste management strategies and their overall impact on reducing carbon emissions.[43]

FIVE is granted an 'A' ESG Rating by Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) evaluated against over 100 criteria across Environmental, Social and Governance topics.[45] FIVE has been provided with the highest ESG rating in the world within the ISS universe as of 23 June 2023.[45] FIVE Palm Jumeirah and FIVE Jumeirah Village became the first batch of hotels in the UAE to obtain International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs) for achieving 100% renewable energy for 2022.[46] All of Mulchandani's hotels have earned LEED Platinum certification through the US Green Building Council.[47][48] FIVE LUXE, FIVE's latest development received its Building Completion Certificate (BCC) and the Group's highest Platinum score to date, 89 Points as of October 2023.[48][49]

Forbes Middle East ranked Mulchandani as one of the Middle East’s Sustainability Leaders in the Travel and Tourism Industry with a top 100 across 12 sectors.[50]

FIVE'S debut Green Bond listing on Nasdaq Dubai edit

FIVE Holdings raised $350 million from the five-year green bond, featuring a coupon rate of 9.375%, with maturity set for October 2028.[51] It was listed on Dubai's Nasdaq on 4th October and ISM (London) on 5th October.[52][53]

Philanthropy edit

Kabir Mulchandani, who won Philanthropist of the Year at the CEO Middle East Awards 2017,[54] supports a number of charities. In March 2017, his company FIVE launched Project Udaan with the aim of saving a life every day in India. The project provides daily life-saving surgery to children born with congenital heart defects, whose families could otherwise not afford the medical costs.[55] It also supports the New Faces Charitable Trust, paying for surgery to help children born with facial deformities.[56]

Personal life edit

In 2012, he married his second wife Nadia Zaal, one of the most influential Emirati women in the GCC, the couple have three sons and one daughter.[57]

Controversies edit

In 2009, Kabir was arrested in Dubai for a highly publicized case of real estate fraud. He was first let out on bail after 140 days, and later acquitted of all these charges in 2010.[58]

It was found by the Supreme Court of Dubai, claimants accused him in order to avoid honoring their financial obligations. The main allegation was directly dismissed by the Public Prosecutor.[59] The second allegation was heard in Dubai Court and judge concluded that the accused did not deceive the plaintiffs in the civil action and was not satisfied with their statements in this regard and finds no credibility in the statements as they are baseless and without evidence supporting them.[60] He was exonerated and was acquitted from all allegations.[58][59]

His legal battle with Viceroy over operator rights of the Palm Jumeriah hotel was highly publicized. Viceroy's termination took place on the same day Viceroy's UAE shareholders announced their plans to wholly own the company. Viceroy's web page has a clear note on it distancing itself from the property as it is run today.

Awards edit

Title Award Winner Reference
Philanthropy CEO of the Year CEO Middle East Awards 2017 Kabir Mulchandani, Chairman and group CEO, FIVE Holdings [61]
100 inspiring leaders in the Middle East Arabian Business - Power List 2018 Kabir Mulchandani, Chairman and group CEO, FIVE Holdings [19]
Leaders in Travel and Tourism Arabian Business - Expo List 2021 Kabir Mulchandani, Chairman, Five Holdings [62]
Indian Power List Arabian Business - Power List 2021 Kabir Mulchandani, Chairman and group CEO, FIVE Holdings [63]
Indian Power List Arabian Business - Power List 2022 Kabir Mulchandani, Chairman and group CEO, FIVE Holdings [64]
Top 100 Travel & Tourism Leaders 2023 Forbes Middle East Kabir Mulchandani, Chairman and group CEO, FIVE Holdings [65]
Indian Power List Arabian Business – Power List 2023 Kabir Mulchandani, Chairman and group CEO, FIVE Holdings [66]
Indian Aces Arabian Business - Top 50 Indians Powerlist 2023 Kabir Mulchandani, Chairman and group CEO, FIVE Holdings [67]
Power 100 Construction Week – Power 100 2023 Kabir Mulchandani, Chairman and group CEO, FIVE Holdings [68]

References edit

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