Prince Hotels, a subsidiary of Japan’s Seibu Holdings, is acquiring Sydney-based StayWell Hospitality Group (SWHG) in a A$50 million (US$38.1 million) deal, gaining the latter’s 30 hotels (18 existing and 12 under development) in seven countries and 21 cities.
The agreement will see Prince Hotels establish StayWell Holdings to acquire all shares of SWHG’s 22 subsidiary companies, with operations expected to commence in October 2017.
Driving the purchase are plans to further the globalisation of Seibu Group’s hotel and leisure business, a key growth driver for the group. For now, 42 of the 49 hotels in Prince’s stable are in Japan.
SWHG, which operates the Park Regis and Leisure Inn brands, has a network comprising 11 hotels in Australia of which one is under development; 10 in India including six in the pipeline; one in Singapore; three in Indonesia including an upcoming one in Bali’s Seminyak; four in the UAE with three under development; one coming up in Saudi Arabia; and one in the UK’s Birmingham.
An acquisition notice issued by Prince Hotels stated that the properties will serve both as global development and operation platforms to expand the group’s profit earning opportunities and accelerate the development of hotels in South-east Asia, Asia and Oceania, the Middle East and Europe.
The company plans to deploy 100 hotels in 10 years.
“We are looking toward the year 2020 (when the) Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held, and beyond that, focusing on international expansion,” said Prince Hotels president and representative director, Shigeyoshi Akasaka.
