African Sun Limited has acquired the 50% stake held by Meikles Hospitality in the partnership operating The Victoria Falls Hotel, one of Zimbabwe’s oldest and most iconic properties, according to New Zimbabwe. The deal gives African Sun full control of the hotel, bringing an end to a partnership that had lasted nearly three decades.
A 50/50 partnership since 1998
Since 1998, The Victoria Falls Hotel had been operated under an equal partnership between African Sun and Meikles Hospitality. This ownership structure made the property one of the few hotel assets in the country jointly held by two historic Zimbabwean groups.
With the acquisition of Meikles Hospitality’s stake, African Sun becomes the hotel’s sole operator, strengthening its position in one of southern Africa’s most strategic tourism markets.
🔗 Also on LTH: Accor signs its first hotel in Zimbabwe with the Novotel Victoria Falls
The “Grand Old Lady” of the Falls
Known as the “Grand Old Lady of the Falls”, The Victoria Falls Hotel was built in 1904 by the railway administration, at a time when rail development was driving tourism growth in the Victoria Falls region, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The property was later leased, in the early 1970s, to Southern Sun, the hospitality group that preceded today’s African Sun.
This historical continuity gives the deal a heritage dimension as much as a financial one: African Sun takes on full responsibility for an asset that has spanned more than a century of the country’s political and economic change.
Meikles weighing a broader rethink of its hospitality holdings
The disposal comes amid a wider strategic repositioning at Meikles Limited, the parent company of Meikles Hospitality. The group, listed on the Harare Stock Exchange, said in early June that it was engaged in discussions regarding the disposal of its remaining hospitality interests.
In a cautionary statement to shareholders, Meikles said the proposed transaction could constitute a “Category 1” transaction under Section 253 of Statutory Instrument 134 of 2019, a classification requiring shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting before implementation. The group had urged investors to exercise caution when trading its shares, without disclosing the buyer’s identity or the value of the proposed transaction.
What the deal means for African Sun
For African Sun, gaining full control of The Victoria Falls Hotel simplifies governance of one of its most prestigious assets and allows it to independently steer the property’s strategic and operational direction, as a member of The Leading Hotels of the World collection.
The deal also comes against a backdrop of wider expansion by major international hotel groups in the Zimbabwean market, following Accor’s Novotel project at Victoria Falls, due to open in 2028, and Hilton’s stated push into sub-Saharan Africa.
