The Ascott Limited, CapitaLand Investment’s (CLI) wholly-owned lodging unit, is acquiring a freehold asset in Tokyo via the Ascott Serviced Residence Global Fund (ASRGF).
The ASRGF is Ascott’s private equity fund with Qatar Investment Authority.
The asset will be refurbished into a 140-unit coliving property under Ascott’s lyf brand. Named lyf Ginza Tokyo, this will be Ascott’s first lyf property in the city.
This is also the ASRGF’s fourth acquisition in 2022, deploying close to $400 million across four countries in under five months.
lyf Ginza Tokyo is slated to open in June 2023.
The acquisition follows the group’s signing of over 7,500 units in the 1HFY2022, up by 32% y-o-y.
During the half-year period, Ascott has also opened 20 properties with over 4,500 units, which is up by 56% y-o-y.
“Ascott has completed our acquisition of Oakwood, and achieved strong organic growth in 1HFY2022 with the addition of newly signed and opened properties across our brands. This allows us to build upon our recurring fee income stream,” says Kevin Goh, CLI’s CEO for lodging.
“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,” he adds.
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In addition, Goh sees opportunities for Ascott to “grow our funds under management (FUM) 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,” he continues.
“Extended stay lodging assets such as serviced residences and coliving properties are becoming increasingly attractive as an investment class. Investors have recognised its resilience to withstand economic challenges and flexibility to reap the benefits during an upswing in demand,” says Mak Hoe Kit, Ascott’s managing director for lodging private equity funds and head of business development.
“Partnering with Ascott allows investors to leverage our award-winning lodging operations to add more value to their investments. With the addition of lyf Ginza Tokyo, we are close to the full deployment of ASRGF. We seek to establish more lodging funds and attract like-minded capital partners to tap on Ascott’s established investment and operational expertise to grow. Through our strong local team’s expertise in deal origination, we continue to hunt for under-valued and/or under-performing assets which we will then further enhance their performance,” he adds.
Shares in CLI closed 2 cents higher or 0.51% up at $3.95 on Aug 3.
