Featured in this Asia Pacific Hospitality Newsletter - Week Ending 15 July 2005
Raffles Holdings Sells Hotel Business to Colony Capital
Four Seasons Sydney Up for Sale
Packer to Sell Perisher Blue Ski Resort
India Hotels Witnessing New Highs in Occupancy
Starwood Hotels Unveils New Brand
Super 8 Motels Targets 280 Properties in China by 2008
Absolute Share Price Performance, as at 15 July 2005


Raffles Holdings Sells Hotel Business to Colony Capital Return to Headlines
Raffles Holdings Limited announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to divest its Hotel Business to Colony HR Acquisitions LLC, an affiliate of Colony Capital LLC for an enterprise value of US$1 billion, subject to adjustments upon completion. Raffles Holdings is selling its entire hotel business of 41 properties, including Singapore's 118-year-old Raffles Hotel, for US$859 million cash to Colony Capital, retaining only its interest in the multi-use Raffles City complex. Under the deal, Los Angeles-based Colony Capital will pay a 64 per cent premium above the hotel business' net tangible assets, and Raffles Holdings will net a gain of US$352 million and keep its 45 per cent share in Tincel Properties, which has a US$407 million stake in Raffles City. The complex houses Swissotel and Stamford hotels, Raffles City Shopping Centre, Tower Blocks and Convention Centre.

Four Seasons Sydney Up for Sale Return to Headlines
The owners of the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney has put the 531-key hotel up for sale. The majority owner is the Chicago-based Walton Street Capital, with the Toronto-based Four Seasons Hotels holding a minority stake. The sale is expected to fetch up to US$172 million. The hotel was purchased in 1998 for approximately US$116 million. A refurbishment exercise, which saw a reduction in room count from 594, cost US$45 million Several groups may be keen to buy the hotel, including the GPT Group and the Singapore-based GIC Real Estate.

Packer to Sell Perisher Blue Ski Resort Return to Headlines
Kerry Packer and Transfield Holdings have put Australia's biggest ski resort, Perisher Blue in Jindabyne town, on the market in a sale expected to reap as much as US$150 million. The resort was formed in a 1995 merger between Mr Packer's Perisher-Smiggin Holes and Transfield's Blue Cow-Guthega, and includes 50 lifts. In addition to the ski fields and lifts, the resorts include the Perisher Valley Hotel, and the Station Resort in Jindabyne. Other revenue generators include the ski and snow boarding schools, equipment hire, and the alpine railway from Bullocks Flat. The hotels have a total of about 1,500 beds. The owners have talked about expanding the resort since the mid-1990s and a 2001 master plan by the National Parks and Wildlife Service flagged the creation of a village centre at Perisher with a further 1,300 beds across the resort.

India Hotels Witnessing New Highs in Occupancy Return to Headlines
The hotel industry in India is witnessing a new high in occupancy rates. The best period for the hospitality industry in India was between 1994 and 1996 and the boom times have returned. Conventions, conferences and extended-stays by business travellers have pushed hotel occupancies up in all major cities and the hospitality industry is expecting an average occupancy of 90 percent in the October to March season. Average room occupancies have been over 80 percent in Bangalore, 77 percent in Hyderabad and New Delhi and over 70 percent in Mumbai and Chennai. The open sky policy and the growth of the aviation sector are also behind the boost in the performance of the hospitality industry.

Starwood Hotels Unveils New Brand Return to Headlines
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. will debut a new hotel brand to provide style, design and energy at comfortable rates. Currently referred to as "Project XYZ", the brand is being developed by the team that created W Hotels, widely regarded as the most successful new hotel brand in decades. Sharing some of the characteristics of what the industry refers to as select service, XYZ will create a new category leveraging its W lineage and delivering a unique lifestyle experience which has been historically absent at this end of the hotel spectrum.

Super 8 Motels Targets 280 Properties in China by 2008 Return to Headlines
US budget hotel chain Super 8 Motels Inc plans to open 280 properties in China by 2008 with revenues from its China operations to hit US$150 million annually. By the end of 2005m additional 30 properties are expected to be opened or signed. The budget hotel chain, which is owned by Cendant Corp of the US, launched its China operations in June last year and is now operating eight properties in six cities with another eight in the pipeline. The US firm, which runs more than 2,000 motels in North America, is investing heavily in China. It is hoping to tap into China's expanding middle class which has similar potentials to the American market.

Absolute Share Price Performance, as at 15 July 2005
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