Ascott adds Oakwood to its portfolio in 2H2022 by over 20%
The Ascott, CapitaLand Investment’s lodging arm, has announced it has increased its Oakwood property portfolio by over 20 percent since the group purchased Oakwood Worldwide in the 2H2022.
Ascott bought Oakwood Worldwide out of Mapletree Investments. Although Ascott did not disclose how much it paid for Oakwood Worldwide, the estimated amount is between $40-$50 million.
By the time the announcement took place on July 4, 2020, only 8,500 keys of the 15,000 were operational. The FRE per 10,000 keys that are operational and stable is $20 million. Ascott has introduced a refreshed brand for all Oakwood hotels.
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Ascott, the owner of Oakwood, has increased its presence in 48 cities. New destinations include Busan and Kota Kinabalu (both in Malaysia), Batam and Bali (both in Indonesia), Penang and Kota Kinabalu (both in Malaysia), Visakhapatnam in India and Chennai, Navi Mumbai and Visakhapatnam in India.
Oakwood’s portfolio has grown more than 20 percent since the Ascott acquisition. With over 20 new brands signed, it is one of Ascott’s fastest growing global brand.
Ascott, in a media release, said that its successful integration of Oakwood’s brand into its eco-system helped it grow revenue while improving operational efficiencies and cost synergies.
Oakwood Hotel & Apartments Taman Mini Jakarta & Oakwood Makati Avenue were two of the newer wins managed by previous operators.
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Ascott’s ability to leverage its pricing power, meet market demands and enhance the financial performance for Oakwood post-acquisition is evident in the uplift of revenue and margins.
Ascott has seen an immediate increase in its recurring revenue from the Oakwood property portfolio. This is consistent with the Group’s plan to double fees to $500 million by the year 2028.
Ascott, in 2023, has already launched around 70 properties, which translates into about 13,500 unit across all of its brands.
Ascott will continue to pursue deals that are transformative and can provide us with immediate market access, diverse customer base, and valuable synergies. Inorganic growth offers strategic advantages that extend beyond incremental expansion.
To meet the demands of today’s corporate travellers, we have leveraged Oakwood’s expertise in corporate travel.
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The Oakwood refreshed brand will provide thoughtful amenities and productivity to appeal to the growing market of business and leisure travellers.
Oakwood has many signatures. These include the Oakroom (a lobby area that gives guests a feeling of homecoming), various dining options in the hotels, food events and activities, as well as warm, professional ambassadors called Oakwood GEM.
Oakwood follows Citadines’, Somerset’s, and Ascott’s refreshed brands which were introduced over the past two-years. Ascott’s Brand-360, a group-wide exercise to improve its brand portfolio with sharpened stories about brands and signature experiences or programmes specific to each brand is behind the Oakwood brand refresh.
