Oakwood Premier Melbourne

The Ascott Limited is set to acquire global serviced apartment provider Oakwood Worldwide from Mapletree Investments, a deal which will grow Ascott’s portfolio by 81 properties and about 15,000 units.

The acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022, will take Ascott’s global presence to more than 150,000 units in about 900 properties.

It will also expand Ascott’s presence to over 200 cities in 39 countries, reaching new markets including Cheongju in South Korea; Zhangjiakou and Qingdao in China; Dhaka in Bangladesh; as well as Washington D.C. in the US.

Parent company CapitaLand Investment Limited’s (CLI) Chief Executive Officer for Lodging, Kevin Goh, said the move is part of Ascott’s ambition to play a bigger role in the lodging market.

“There are significant synergies between Ascott and Oakwood, given our complementary footprint and product offerings,” he said.

“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.”

CLI Chief Executive Officer for Lodging, Kevin Goh

The Los Angeles-founded brand has a presence in more than 15 countries including flagship properties Oakwood Premier Tokyo and Oakwood Premier Coex Center Seoul. New properties include as Oakwood Premier Melbourne and Oakwood Hotel Oike Kyoto.

Goh said the acquisition is notable to Ascott commercially.

“Ascott’s acquisition of Oakwood brings about an immediate boost to our units under management and franchise contracts,” he said.

“The Oakwood portfolio will accelerate the growth of our asset-light business, with added recurring fee income streams, expanded lodging offerings and increased customer base. The strategic moves we have made in the last few years, such as our investments in Quest, Synergy and TAUZIA have charted an unprecedented growth path for Ascott.”