Bonvests Holdings Limited Acquires Company and Properties in Morocco for SGD29.93 Million

Singapore-based Bonvests Holdings Limited (“Bonvests”) has announced the acquisition of a 99.97% equity interest in Moroccan-registered company Goldcove SA (“Goldcove’), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Goldcove Private Limited, at a purchase consideration of approximately SGD51,000. Goldcove SA has entered into agreements with third party vendors to acquire a hotel and other properties in Marrakech, Morocco, which amounts to approximately SGD29,881,000. Among the properties acquired include the 32-key La Maison Arabe, a riad-hotel located in the Medina of Marrakech featuring two restaurants, a wellness center, swimming pool, cooking school and an adjacent riad for hotel operations. The other acquisition is a 33,322-square-metre land plot which has a country club and swimming pool located 15 minutes away by hotel shuttle. The overall acquisition price of the company and properties amounts to approximately SGD29.93 million.

Facilimate Hotels Acquires Coral Cary Resort in Mackay, Queensland

Australia-based Facilimate Hotels (“Facilimate”) has announced the acquisition of the 82-key Coral Cay Resort in Mackay, Queensland for an undisclosed amount. The deal represents Facilimate’s third acquisition in Queensland, offering the company a greater stake in the growing market. Situated on a 9,148-square-metre site, Coral Cay Resort features one, two- and three-bedroom apartments, a restaurant, two meeting rooms, a swimming pool, a fitness centre, a manager’s residence and an outdoor car parking. Located on Nebo Road, the property is in proximity to Mackay’s CBD, major sporting facilities, Showground, the Entertainment and Convention Centre, Base Hospital and a 7-minute drive from the Mackay Airport. Following the acquisition, Facilimate now owns and operates a total of six hotels in Australia, including 179-key Pacific Hotel Brisbane and 207-key Pacific Hotel Cairns.

OYO Acquires Hooters Casino Hotel for USD135 Million in Las Vegas

SoftBank-backed India-based hotel chain, OYO Hotels and Homes (“OYO”), has acquired its first property in Las Vegas, the Hooters Casino Hotel. The deal was signed in partnership with US-based hospitality investment firm, Highgate, and is reported to value at approximately USD135 million. The 657-key property will be part of the company’s growing upscale lodging segment and is expected to be rebranded as the OYO Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. Highgate will take up the management of the hotel, while Paragon Gaming will continue to operate the 35,000-square-foot casino. OYO currently has more than 112 hotels across 21 states in the US. In June 2019, the company had announced its plans to invest USD300 million to expand its footprint in the US.

Sansiri Takes Up Majority Stake in Standard International

Thailand-based property developer, Sansiri PLC (“Sansiri”) has reached an agreement to take up a majority stake in US-based Standard International (“SIH”), the parent company of an American hotel brand, The Standard, for USD40.5 million. The deal is to raise an additional 21.76% stake from the previous investment made by Sansiri in November 2017, which will see Sansiri’s shareholding in SIH increase from 37.26% to 59.02%. SIH is now a direct subsidiary of Sansiri as well as an indirect subsidiary. According to Sansiri, both companies have planned to open 25 new hotels across the world in the next five years, including four in Thailand, namely, Koh Samui, Phuket, Pattaya and Hua Hin. Other locations in the pipeline include Milan, Paris, Lisbon, Bordeaux, Mexico City, Jakarta, Melbourne and Chicago. In July 2019, The Standard launched its first property outside the US, in London and is set to launch its first resort in Huruvalhi, the Maldives later this year.

China Reports Sustainable Growth in Hotel Construction Pipeline

According to an analytical report by Lodging Econometrics (LE), the total construction pipeline in China expanded to 2,991 hotels with 592,884 rooms by the end of the first half of 2019, recording a year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 19% and 7%, respectively. Currently, 2,174 hotels with 407,594 rooms are under construction in China, up by 20% and 5% y-o-y, respectively. 411 hotels with 84,555 rooms are scheduled to commence construction in the next 12 months. 406 hotels with 100,735 rooms are in the early planning stage, up by 19% and 13%, respectively. In terms of construction pipeline by city, Guangzhou ranked first with 140 hotels comprising a total of 27,945 rooms, followed by Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan and Suzhou. In the first half of 2019, 413 new hotels with 62,173 rooms were observed to open in China and another 452 new hotels with 69,110 rooms are forecasted to open by the end of the year. LE expects China to open the greatest number of new hotel rooms with a strong pipeline of 786 hotels with 130,614 rooms in 2020 and 728 hotels with 135,913 rooms in 2021. 

Absolute Share Price Performance, as on 13 September 2019