• Meikles is in discussions to dispose of its 50% stake in the Victoria Falls Hotel operating business, its last remaining hospitality interest after the sale of Meikles Hotel in Harare
• The renewed sale talks reverse the December 2025 decision to retain the stake, creating a fresh transaction test around valuation, timing, and the strategic direction of one of Zimbabwe’s oldest listed groups
• Albwardy Investments stands out as the most credible analytical reference point after acquiring Meikles Hotel for US$20 million and Kingdom Hotel for US$30 million, giving it a visible Zimbabwe hospitality acquisition trail

Harare- Meikles Limited, one of Zimbabwe's oldest listed conglomerates, is in discussions to sell its remaining interest in hospitality operations, according to the latest cautionary circular.

The asset in question is Meikles' 50% stake in the operating business of Victoria Falls Hotel, held in a joint venture with African Sun Limited. It is the company's last hospitality holding. Meikles sold its flagship Meikles Hotel in Harare to Dubai-based Albwardy Investments for USD 20 million, a transaction that signalled a comprehensive exit from the sector the group had been associated with for over a century.

Victoria Falls Hotel was initially identified as the next asset to be disposed of as part of that same strategic withdrawal, before the board reversed course in December 2025 and announced it had revised its earlier decision to divest. The June 2026 cautionary is a reversal of that reversal, confirming that six months after stepping back from a sale, Meikles has returned to the table.

The identity of the prospective buyer is not disclosed. The pattern of recent transactions in Zimbabwe's hospitality sector, however, makes one party conspicuous by its activity. Albwardy Investments, which purchased Meikles Hotel in Harare for USD 20 million, subsequently acquired Kingdom Hotel in Victoria Falls for USD 30 million. Two acquisitions within Zimbabwe over a short period, one in Harare and one in Victoria Falls, from a single strategic investor that already holds an established transactional relationship with Meikles as a counterparty, describes a buyer that is building a Zimbabwe hospitality portfolio with deliberate intent.

Victoria Falls Hotel, which dates to 1904 and remains the most historically significant hotel in the destination, is the asset that would complete Albwardy's Victoria Falls presence if its Kingdom Hotel acquisition reflects a strategy of accumulating premium hospitality assets in what has become Zimbabwe's primary international tourism draw.

And for that, an investor that has already committed USD 50 million across two Zimbabwe hotel transactions carries the regulatory relationships, banking relationships, and operational familiarity to execute a third transaction at a pace and certainty that a new market entrant cannot match. None of that constitutes confirmation, and the cautionary is explicit that discussions remain ongoing.

However,  the circumstantial logic of Albwardy's acquisition pattern is the most analytically credible lens through which to read why Meikles has reversed its December 2025 position.

The sequnce of decisions on Victoria Falls Hotel is worth reconstructing precisely because it reveals a board that has not arrived at a stable strategic conclusion through a single deliberate process. The basis for the December 2025 decision to retain the stake was never publicly elaborated, leaving the market to infer whether it reflected an insufficient offer price, a disagreement with African Sun on the disposal mechanics, or a reassessment of the asset's revenue trajectory as Zimbabwe's inbound tourism strengthened.

The most straightforward reading of the June 2026 reversal is that improved terms or a more compelling offer has since emerged. The USD 30 million that Albwardy paid for Kingdom Hotel in the interim is a relevant data point in that regard: it establishes a market reference price for a significant Victoria Falls hotel asset that did not exist as a benchmark when the December decision was made, and may have provided Meikles with a more credible anchor for what its 50% stake in a comparable or more prestigious property should command.

The African Sun dimension adds a further layer of complexity to any transaction. A buyer acquiring Meikles' 50% would become African Sun's co-owner rather than the asset's sole proprietor, creating a governance dynamic whose attractiveness depends on whether African Sun is simultaneously willing to sell its own stake, or whether the incoming party is comfortable with a partnership arrangement alongside an established Zimbabwe hospitality operator.

African Sun's most recently reported results confirmed a strengthening RevPAR, ADR, and occupancy trajectory across its Zimbabwe hotels as international arrivals recovered, meaning the co-ownership of Victoria Falls Hotel is not a distressed position. How African Sun participates in or responds to any disposal of the Meikles stake will be a material consideration in how the transaction is ultimately structured.

If the disposal concludes, Meikles will have fully exited the hospitality sector. The EGM circular the board will issue in due course, containing the terms of the proposed transaction, will carry an obligation beyond the mechanics of shareholder approval.

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