Paris – July 31, 2012 - As
part of its asset-management strategy, Accor announces today the sale
to A-HTRUST of two separate entities:
- The 21.9% stake in Ascendas Australia Hospitality Fund,
formerly known as Mirvac Wholesale Fund, that holds 7 properties, out
of which 6 are operated by Accor in Australia and New- Zealand, sold
for €56m ($68.7m). The purpose of sale had been announced with the
Mirvac acquisition.
- The Novotel (305 rooms) and ibis (401 rooms) in Beijing
Sanyuan, sold under a sale and management back contract(1) for a total
amount of €54m ($66.3m).
Besides, in the frame of the creation of A-HTRUST, one of the largest
publicly listed Hotel Investment Trusts in the Asia-Pacific region,
Accor takes a 6.9% stake in the new entity for an investment of €32m
($39.3m). As agreed with Ascendas, who will hold up to 35% of A-HTRUST,
Accor will be granted a right of first offer to manage future
acquisitions when the hotels are not operated under a pre-existing
management contract. In return, A-HTRUST will benefit from a right of
first offer to purchase hotel properties put on sale by Accor in the
Asia-Pacific region (excluding Australia and India).
“This operation highlights once again our capability to attract leading
investors”, said Denis Hennequin, Accor’s Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer. “After the successful acquisition of Mirvac in Australia &
New-Zealand, we consolidate our presence in the Asia-Pacific region
with an extremely well established partner, through an investment
vehicle that will allow us to speed up both our expansion, but also our
assetmanagement policy in the region”.
(1) The sale of the ibis Sanyuan in Beijing is subject to
administrative authorizations applying in China.
About Ascendas
Ascendas is Asia’s leading provider of business space solutions with
key markets in Singapore, China, India, South Korea and South East Asia
(including Vietnam, Malaysia and Philippines). Based in Singapore,
Ascendas has built a strong regional presence and serves a global
clientele of over 2,400 customers. Ascendas specializes in developing,
managing and marketing IT parks, industrial & logistics parks,
business parks, science parks, hi-tech facilities, office and retail
space. Its flagships include the Singapore Science Park, International
Tech Park Bangalore in India, Dalian-Ascendas IT Park in China and
Carmelray Industrial Park II in the Philippines. Ascendas provides
end-to-end real estate solutions, assisting corporate customers through
the entire real estate process. In November 2002, Ascendas launched
Singapore’s first business space trust, the Ascendas Real Estate
Investment Trust (A-REIT). In August 2007, the Ascendas India Trust
(a-iTrust) was launched as Singapore’s first listed Indian property
trust. The third listed fund. In July 2012, it launched its third
trust, the Ascendas Hospitality Trust (A-HTRUST). Ascendas also
demonstrated its strength in real estate fund management with a series
of private real estate funds established across Asia.
About Accor
Accor, the world's leading hotel operator
and market
leader in
Europe, is present in 90 countries with more than 4,200 hotels and
500,000 rooms. Accor's broad portfolio of hotel brands - Sofitel,
Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Suite Novotel, Mercure, Adagio, ibis, all
seasons/ibis Styles, Etap Hotel/Formule 1/ibis budget, hotelF1 and
Motel 6 - provide an extensive offer from luxury to budget. With
145,000 employees
worldwide, the Group offers to its clients and partners nearly 45 years
of
know-how and expertise.