WORLDWIDE: CapitaLand Investment Ltd’s wholly owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott) is acquiring a freehold asset in Tokyo, Japan.
The property is being bought via the Ascott Serviced Residence Global Fund (ASRGF), Ascott’s private equity fund with Qatar Investment Authority.
The property will be refurbished to introduce Ascott’s first lyf offering to Tokyo.
The 140-unit coliving property, lyf Ginza Tokyo, is ASRGF’s fourth acquisition in 2022, deploying close to S$400 million across four countries in under five months.
The acquisition follows Ascott’s signing of more than 7,500 units in 1H 2022, a 32 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. Ascott has also opened 20 properties with more than 4,500 units in 1H 2022, which is a 56 per cent year-on-year increase in units.
The big news this year was Ascott’s acquisition of Oakwood Worldwide in July 2022, expanding its portfolio by about 15,000 units to more than 153,000 units across more than 900 properties.
Kevin Goh, CapitaLand Investment Ltd’s chief executive officer for lodging, said: “Ascott has completed our acquisition of Oakwood, and achieved strong organic growth in 1H 2022 with the addition of newly signed and opened properties across our brands. This allows us to build upon our recurring fee income stream. We have kicked-off the integration of Oakwood with Ascott, placing us in a stronger position to drive further growth, deliver higher returns to our property owners and offer better experiences to our guests.”
Goh added: “As a vertically-integrated global lodging business, Ascott is able to leverage our full suite of real estate investment and management capabilities for expansion. In addition to increasing our recurring fee income via new management and franchise contracts, we see opportunities to grow our funds under management through our private funds such as ASRGF and our Student Accommodation Development Venture. We will continue to step up our growth as demand for lodging increases with the resumption of international travel.”
lyf Ginza Tokyo is slated to open in June 2023.
