Hiap Hoe to sell Melbourne hotel for A$96 million

HIAP Hoe will sell its Melbourne Docklands hotel for A$96 million (S$83.9 million) to WFM Financial, a subsidiary of Australia-listed alternative asset manager MA Financial.

On Monday (Feb 5), Hiap Hoe said it plans to use the proceeds to repay its bank borrowings and for working capital use.

The 273-key hotel is located at the edge of Victoria Harbour at 443 Docklands Drive, with views of the Melbourne central business district. It comes with conference space, a bar and restaurant, and guest amenities such as a gym and outdoor swimming pool.

The freehold site which it sits on has a gross floor area of 17,774 square metres, based on Hiap Hoe’s annual report for the financial year ended December 2022.

Hiap Hoe bought the waterfront site in 2013 and subsequently developed it into a hotel under the Four Points by Sheraton brand, which opened in 2017.

In a press statement issued separately on the same day, MA Financial said it intends to rebrand the existing hotel – currently known as Four Points by Sheraton Melbourne Docklands – as Vibe Docklands.

The transaction marks the first in a range of hotel properties which MA Financial intends to acquire in the near term, said the asset manager’s joint chief executive Julian Biggins.

Vibe Docklands will be operated by the newly appointed TFE Hotels – a joint venture between Singapore’s Far East Organisation and Australia’s Toga Group.

“We have had a long association with the property, having acquired the site on which it was developed in 2013,” said Hiap Hoe’s chief executive Marc Teo.

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“We are happy to see stewardship of the investment transition to MA Financial.”

Shares of Hiap Hoe were trading unchanged at S$0.62 as at 9.37 am on Monday, after the announcement.