Transcorp Hotels Plc has filed an application at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to raise N8 billion ($49 million) through an initial public offering (IPO), BusinessDay reported, quoting a notice from the exchange posted on Monday

The hotel group, part of listed Transcorp Plc, plans to offer a total of 800,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N10.00 per share.  This means that Transcorp Hotels Plc will  spin off from its parent company and be listed as a separate entity.

Transcorp holds 88 percent interest in Transcorp Hotels Plc through Capital Leisure and Hospitality Limited. The remaining 12 percent is owned by the federal government.

Transcorp Hotels plays in the hospitality sector of the Nigerian economy and is one of the most profitable subsidiaries of its parent company. Recent estimate shows that hotels under the conglomerate generate about $100 million in revenue annually.

Transcorp, late last year, had announced a new premier hotel development in the up-market suburb of Ikoyi in Lagos.

The proposed Transcorp Hilton Lagos, a full service, 350-room hotel on Glover Road, Ikoyi, will be the Hilton Group’s second hotel in Nigeria, following the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, which is one of the leaders in Hilton’s global network.

The company had stated that the new hotel would be jointly owned by Transnational Hotels and Tourism Services Limited, Transcorp’s hospitality arm, and Heirs Holdings, the pan-African proprietary investment company chaired by Tony Elumelu.

In addition to the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, Transcorp Hotels owns a hotel in Calabar and has unfolded plans for another new development in Port Harcourt.