The Ascott Limited has purchased fellow serviced apartment operator Oakwood Worldwide to boost its global portfolio of properties.
The deal sees The Ascott, which is part of CapitaLand Investment, buying Oakwood from its previous owner Mapletree Investments, which will add 81 properties and 15,000 units to its portfolio. Further details of the purchase have not been disclosed.
The Oakwood acquisition will grow Ascott’s global presence to more than 150,000 units in 900 properties in 200 cities across 39 countries. It will also add markets such as Cheongju in South Korea, the Chinese cities of Zhangjiakou and Qingdao, Dhaka in Bangladesh, as well as Washington DC.
Kevin Goh, CLI’s CEO for lodging, said: “This acquisition of Oakwood is part of Ascott’s roadmap to playing a bigger role in the lodging market. There are significant synergies between Ascott and Oakwood, given our complementary footprint and product offerings.
“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, which was set up in Los Angeles in 1962, provides serviced apartments in more than 15 countries after first establishing its reputation in its home US market.
Goh added that Oakwood would “continue to grow” alongside Ascott’s existing brands following the acquisition. Ascott is now “confident” of reaching its target of having 160,000 units globally “well ahead” of 2023.
“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,” he said.