Singapore's iconic 117-year-old Raffles Hotel has been sold, along with 40 other hotels and properties worldwide to US-based investment fund Colony Capital LLC for S$1.72 billion (US$1 billion), including debt, former parent Raffles Holdings Ltd said yesterday.
The deal includes all 41 hotels and resorts around the world marketed under the Raffles and Swissotel brand names.
Its most prominent establishment is the luxurious 103-suite Raffles Hotel in Singapore, built in 1887.
The hotel's colonial-style architecture houses a tropical garden courtyard, museum and Victorian-style theater.
The hotel is an official national monument named after the city state's modern founder, Sir Stamford Raffles, and is a known source of inspiration for writers W. Somerset Maugham, Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling.
It has also played host to hundreds of celebrities ranging from Michael Jackson to Charlie Chaplin.
Colony Capital, which specializes in owning hotels and other hospitality assets, said it will retain the Raffles and Swissotel brands and plans to expand the chains, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.
"We deeply respect the historical significance of the Raffles Hotel Singapore and we consider it our responsibility to protect that legacy," Colony chief executive Thomas Barrack said.
CapitaLand Ltd, Southeast Asia's largest property developer that owns 59.7 percent of Raffles Holdings, said in a statement yesterday that it will gain S$605 million from the sale and plans to pay shareholders a special dividend of S$0.40 a share.
The cash price for the hotels is S$1.45 billion.
Colony Capital, a private investment firm based in Los Angeles, also owns a number of US casinos, including the Las Vegas Hilton and Resorts International in Atlantic City.
The transaction is subject to approval by shareholders. CapitaLand has said it will vote in favor of the sale, Raffles said.
Explaining the reason for the sale, Raffles Chief Executive Jennie Chua said the hotel business lacked scale, ranking 17th or 18th in the world in terms of market capitalization and number of rooms.
To grow, the hotel business would need significant investments and potential cash calls and "that's something we would not like to do," she said at a press conference.
Following the sale, Raffles' only non-cash asset will be its 45 percent stake in Tincel, which owns the Raffles City Complex in Singapore.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS