SPECIAL REPORT
Koji Takabayashi , Horwath Japan : While a pricing gap between current and prospective owners is wide and prohibiting in a way , some institutional investors are actively considering acquisitions of hotel assets , especially when a large portfolio is offered on market by Japanese established corporations , which was rare during the pre- COVID period .
WHAT TYPE OF DEALS ARE MOST LIKELY TO GET DONE ?
Robert Hecker , Horwath HTL , Singapore : Smaller portfolios and single assets . Those with big portfolios tend to be the stronger players and are expected to hold on . There ’ s also not that many big portfolios , but plenty of diversity and spread amongst smaller portfolios and single assets .
AS THE OUTLOOK OF ASIA PACIFIC BECOMES MORE CERTAIN , WITH GOVERNMENTS ADAPTING A ‘ LIVING WITH COVID-19 ’ STRATEGY , WE SEE THAT THERE MIGHT BE AN OVERALL INCREASE IN TRANSACTION VOLUMES IN 2022 AS INVESTORS READJUST THEIR EXPECTATIONS ,
– HOK YEAN CHEE
Hok Yean Chee , HVS : While we observed more single asset transactions in 2020 and 2021 , there are larger portfolio than smaller portfolio transactions as compared to past years .
Developers , investment managers and private equity firms were the active buyers in 2020 and 2021 . The hotel investment has been dominated by local investors rather than cross-border transactions .
We believe that the hospitality buildings that will be transacted will mainly be in the “ opportunistic ” risk category . These will be assets which have not been able to adapt to the pandemic with agility , either due to the current configuration or due to sub-optimal management . The general strategy in fall 2021 was to acquire underperforming assets for refurbishment to take advantage of the upswing in anticipated tourism levels .
Although it would be optimal for investors to acquire grade A hospitality assets , we do not see this happening and this is likely due to the holding power of the owners of these assets .
In Hong Kong , we have seen transactions of underperforming hotels / commercial buildings with conversion to serviced apartment / co-living spaces .
Zoe Wu , Horwath HTL , China : All types are being looked at and discussed . R & F , which acquired Wanda ’ s portfolio , is now trying to sell – both as a portfolio or as individual hotels . Portfolio transactions are not common in China as most portfolios are owned by SOEs ( state-owned enterprises ). Portfolios that are in the hands of private owners may be looked at if institutional money becomes more active in China .
Nikhom Jensiriratanakorn , Horwath HTL , Bangkok : In 2021 , a number of transactions were small- and medium-sized properties , worth less than THB 1 billion each . We are also seeing an increasing number of sizable deals in Thailand . Some corporations that are heavily invested in the hospitality industry need to divest some non-core assets to maintain sufficient liquidity throughout the pandemic .
Interestingly , we feel that there are signs of another consolidation of hotel operators in the Asia Pacific region . Lodgis Hospitality acquired the homegrown Glow Hotels & Resorts to expand its footprint from Vietnam to Thailand . In a similar fashion , another third-party operator
68 hotelsmag . com January / February 2022