Newly opened Oakwood Premier Melbourne. — Photo The Ascott Limited
CapitaLand Investment Limited’s (CLI) wholly owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott) announced it is acquiring Oakwood Worldwide (Oakwood), a premier global serviced apartment provider, from Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd.
The acquisition increases Ascott’s global portfolio by 81 properties and about 15,000 units.
Oakwood’s approximately 8,500 operational units are expected to immediately contribute to Ascott’s recurring fee income streams upon completion of the transaction slated in Q3 2022.
Ascott’s acquisition of Oakwood will leapfrog Ascott’s global presence to more than 150,000 units in about 900 properties across over 200 cities in 39 countries.
It will add new markets which include Cheongju in South Korea; Zhangjiakou and Qingdao in China; Dhaka in Bangladesh as well as Washington DC in the US.
Recently named the ‘Best Serviced Residence Brand’ in DestinAsian Readers’ Choice Awards 2022, Oakwood’s award winning portfolio includes flagship properties Oakwood Premier Tokyo and Oakwood Premier Coex Center Seoul, which were ranked top 10 properties in their respective countries in the DestinAsian awards.
New properties such as Oakwood Premier Melbourne and Oakwood Hotel Oike Kyoto, will also add to the group’s destination highlights.
Kevin Goh, CLI’s Chief Executive Officer for Lodging, said: “This acquisition of Oakwood is part of Ascott’s roadmap to playing a bigger role in the lodging market."
"There are significant synergies between Ascott and Oakwood, given our complementary footprint and product offerings.
"We intend to build on the strong reputation and heritage of the Oakwood brand, especially in markets across Southeast Asia, North Asia and North America. Oakwood will continue to grow alongside Ascott’s current portfolio of global brands as we continue to build growth momentum for our lodging business.
"We will be able to leverage Ascott’s extensive expertise as a global lodging player to deliver greater value to our expanded network of loyal customers and property owners.
“Besides strategic alignment, this acquisition is also notable to Ascott commercially. Ascott’s acquisition of Oakwood brings about an immediate boost to our units under management and franchise contracts."
With Oakwood coming onboard, Ascott is confident of achieving its target of 160,000 units globally well ahead of 2023. — VNS