Featured in this Asia Pacific Hospitality Newsletter - Week Ending 25 August 2006
Mulpha Bids For Control Of Australia's Grand Hotel Group
Four Points By Sheraton Makes Its Debut In Beijing
Outrigger Enterprises Group Sells Australian And New Zealand Assets
InterContinental Group Aims To Run Eight More Hotels In Singapore
Beijing Capital Land To Sell Two Hotels
Hong Kong Group Acquires Boutique Hotel Site
Absolute Share Price Performance, as at 25 August 2006


Mulpha Bids For Control Of Australia's Grand Hotel Group Return to Headlines

Malaysian owned property group Mulpha International has made a bid to take control of publicly-traded Australian luxury hotel group the Grand Hotel Group. Mulpha has said that it aims to own at least 50.1% of the Grand Hotel Group or a maximum of 60%. The Grand Hotel Group owns nine hotels comprising four Hyatt hotels, three Country Comfort and two hotels operated under the Chifley portfolio. Australian investment bank Babcock and Brown Australia Pty Ltd also agreed to sell its 15% Grand Hotel stake of approx 39 million shares to Mulpha, as part of its pre-bid acquisition. The purchase would be funded by a combination of existing cash and undrawn credit facilities from an Australian bank. Mulpha began its hotel operation business in Australia in 1999 and currently owns two hotels which are the Sydney InterContinental Hotel and the Hayman Great Barrier Reef. It also owns two property development businesses at Sanctuary Cove in Gold Coast and the Norwest Business Park in Sydney.


Four Points By Sheraton Makes Its Debut In Beijing Return to Headlines

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, continues its aggressive expansion momentum in China with the signing of its first Four Points by Sheraton hotel in the capital city of China, Four Points by Sheraton Beijing, Haidian. The new Four Points by Sheraton property is scheduled to open in July 2009 and will be owned by the Beijing Yongtai Real Estate Development Ltd and managed by Starwood Hotels under a long-term management contract. The Four Points by Sheraton Beijing, Haidian will be part of an integrated mixed-use complex with offices, hotel and shopping centre. The hotel will be located in Haidian district, near the Western fourth ring road of Beijing and conveniently located near the Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park, a major information technology hub in Beijing, as well as the Haidian government district, major universities and research institutes.


Outrigger Enterprises Group Sells Australian And New Zealand Assets Return to Headlines

Outrigger Enterprises Group has entered into an agreement to sell selected operations in Australia and New Zealand to MFS Limited, a publicly-held Australian investment firm. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year. The transaction includes the sale of management and letting rights and associated real estate interests for 13 properties Outrigger currently manages in Australia and New Zealand, plus the management rights for six additional projects currently under development. The Outrigger brand and, and its other Pacific operations including six properties operating or under development in Bali, Fiji, Tahiti and Guam are not included in the transaction.


InterContinental Group Aims To Run Eight More Hotels In Singapore Return to Headlines
Singapore’s tourism market plan to double visitor arrivals to 17 million by 2015 has prompted the British-based InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to map out its own bold blueprint for expansion here. The chain, which operates three hotels in Singapore, hopes to run at least eight more properties within five years ranging from three to five-star hotels. Singapore has about 37,000 hotel rooms, but it is likely to witness10,000 additional rooms in the next four to six years. IHG is expanding at a time when room and occupancy rates are rising on the back of healthier economic growth in Asia. Visitors from China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia are likely to continue to outpace arrivals from long-haul markets, said Mr David Ling, the managing director of HVS International, Singapore. A significant number of these regional visitors will look for accommodation in the mid-tier category, he added. IHG's Express by Holiday Inn brand is thus ideal for Singapore, given the lack of mid-tier branded hotels, he added.

Beijing Capital Land To Sell Two Hotels Return to Headlines
Beijing Capital Land, a property development arm of the Beijing municipal government, will put its two hotels up for sale and invest the proceeds in more residential projects. The developer was in talks with potential buyers of its Central Holiday Inn and Finance Street InterContinental Hotel. It is understood that Capital Land will probably sell the hotels, which are part of the Finance Street project, before the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to take advantage of an anticipated tourism boom.

Hong Kong Group Acquires Boutique Hotel Site Return to Headlines
Reflecting the strong sentiment in the Singapore hotel market, a state tender for a hotel site located at Robertson Quay attracted seven bids. The top bid of US$35 million came from Hong Kong's Park Hotel Group. This price is more than double the US$16 million minimum price for the 99-year leasehold site on the reserve list. 'The price we paid reflects our confidence in the Singapore hotel market in the years to come,' Park Hotel director Allen Law said. Park Hotel plans to develop the 42,503 square feet Unity Street site into a 350-room hotel at an all-in cost of about US$79 million. This works out to nearly US$230,000 per room and Mr Law said that the group is looking at a 5 per cent net yield, assuming an average daily room rate of US$85. Park Hotel plans to develop a stylish, boutique hotel along the lines of Starwood's W Hotels brand.

Absolute Share Price Performance, as at 25 August 2006
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