Committed to sustained organic growth, the Group is Ascott goes through the buyout process from time to time to accelerate its expansion. This was the case in the early 2000s with the Citadines brand, further strengthening its presence in Europe. At the end of the last decade, it was the turn of Indonesian hotelier Tauzia and Australian long-stay specialist Quest Apartment Hotels to join the Singapore group. While the former has enabled the long-stay specialist to diversify into mid-range business hotels, the latter has increased its presence 'down under' while strengthening its franchise development model.
Continuing in this vein, the CapitaLand Investment subsidiary has just announced the acquisition of Oakwood Worldwide. This represents a portfolio of 81 residences and 15,000 flats, reinforcing Ascott's position as world leader in long-term accommodation. Once this acquisition has been finalised with its former owner, Mapletree Investments, Ascott will pass the 150,000-unit mark worldwide, with almost 900 establishments in more than 200 cities and 39 countries.
Thanks to Oakwood, the Ascott group will be able to resume development projects that will enable it to expand into new marketsThese include Cheongju in South Korea and Dhaka in Bangladesh. However, in addition to further strengthening its presence in Asia, where Oakwood is very well positioned, Ascott is targeting the US market in particular with this acquisition. Was it a coincidence that the Singaporean group chose 4 July to announce this major acquisition?
California, New York, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, Washington: founded in Los Angeles in 1962, Oakwood has since forged a reputation as one of the world's leading brands. solid reputation in the United States which opens up new prospects for the Ascott group, which so far has only two properties across the Atlantic, the Citadines Connect Fifth Avenue in New York and another Citadines apartment-hotel, The Domain, in Sunnyvale.
While Oakwood will continue to be developed alongside the current brand portfolio of Ascott, Kevin Goh, Managing Director for Hosting at Capital Land Investment, said his group intends to build on " the heritage of the Oakwood brand, particularly in the South East Asian, North Asian and North American markets. "
