Group overview
Our vision
Our vision is to provide quality hospitality and leisure experiences at every one of our destinations.
Who we are
Tsogo Sun is southern Africa’s premier gaming, hotel and entertainment group.
The group’s heritage dates back to the founding of Southern Sun Hotels (‘Southern Sun’) in 1969, when South African Breweries Limited (‘SAB Limited’) and hotel magnate, Sol Kerzner, partnered to create the largest hotel group in the southern hemisphere. Southern Sun commenced operations with six hotels, including the iconic Beverly Hills hotel in Umhlanga Rocks, Durban, and was subsequently involved in the development of many of the most prestigious hotels of the era, including the Cape Sun, Sandton Sun and Sun City. In 1983, Sun International Limited (‘Sun International’) was split out of Southern Sun as a separate gaming business and Southern Sun remained focused on hotels. By 1985, Southern Sun had expanded to 26 hotels. It then acquired the Holiday Inn South Africa hotel group, thereby establishing a countrywide distribution of 49 hotels, in both the up-market and mid-market segments. In 1991, Southern Sun was delisted from the JSE and became a wholly owned subsidiary of SAB Limited. In the same year, Southern Sun entered into a joint venture with Accor SA, the French hotel group, to develop the Formula1 and Formula Inn range of hotels in South Africa and the first of 23 hotels opened in 1992. In 1999, Southern Sun acquired a 50% interest in a consortium with Liberty called Cullinan which owned three hotels.
In 1995, in anticipation of the introduction of the new gaming dispensation in South Africa, Tsogo Sun Holdings Proprietary Limited (as it was then known) (‘Tsogo Sun Holdings’) was constituted as a bidding consortium between Southern Sun and numerous black empowerment corporates, associations and individuals (via Tsogo Investment Holding Company Proprietary Limited (‘TIH’)). Tsogo Sun Holdings contracted with MGM Grand Inc. for casino management expertise and the consortium was successful in obtaining five casino licences. The first such licensed facility, Emnotweni Casino located in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga province, opened in October 1997. This was the first operating casino within the new regulated environment in post-apartheid South Africa. During 2002, the two shareholders of Tsogo Sun Holdings, SABMiller (via SABSA Holdings Limited) and Hosken Consolidated Investments Limited (via TIH), concluded a landmark BBBEE transaction which resulted in TIH acquiring control of Tsogo Sun Holdings, including the hotel business, and the dilution of SABMiller’s ownership interest to 49%. HCI, currently the ultimate holding company of TIH, first acquired an indirect 10% interest in Tsogo Sun Holdings during December 2002 and has subsequently obtained a 99% ownership of TIH.
By 2002, the contract with MGM Grand Inc. had been transferred to Tsogo Sun Holdings. In 2009, the group acquired two casino properties owned by Century Casinos Inc. (‘Century Casinos’), Blackrock Casino and The Caledon Casino. More recently, the group concluded a landmark merger with Gold Reef Resorts Limited (‘Gold Reef’) in February 2011, incorporating an additional seven casinos into the group’s portfolio – Gold Reef City Casino, Silverstar Casino, Golden Horse Casino, Garden Route Casino, Mykonos Casino, Goldfields Casino and an associate investment in Queens Casino. The group was reverse listed into Gold Reef and subsequently renamed Tsogo Sun Holdings Limited (‘Tsogo Sun’).
Tsogo Sun’s portfolio proudly comprises over 90 hotels with more than 14 200 hotel rooms across all sectors of the market, from luxury to budget in South Africa, the rest of Africa, the United Arab Emirates and the Seychelles; 14 premier gaming and entertainment destinations in six provinces of South Africa; theatres, cinemas, restaurants and bars; and over 240 conference and banqueting facilities, including the Sandton Convention Centre.
