Hot stock: Ascendas Hospitality Trust plunges after sale plans called off

[SINGAPORE] Ascendas Hospitality Trust fell the most in more than three years after the hotel owner called off plans for a sale. Units of the trust fell as much as 13.7 per cent to 66 Singapore cents Wednesday morning in the city-state, the biggest decline since July 2012.

Ascendas said its managers "decided not to proceed with, and have ceased all discussions in relation to" the proposed transaction after evaluating offers from potential buyers, accordingto a stock exchange statement late Tuesday.

Blackstone Group LP, Gaw Capital Partners and a group led by Varde Partners planned to submit final bids for Ascendas, people with knowledge of the matter said in February. Singapore- listed Ascendas Hospitality said last week its properties in Australia, China, Japan and Singapore are valued at S$1.49 billion.

Ascendas Hospitality owns 11 hotels with more than 4,000 rooms, including properties like Park Hotel Clarke Quay in Singapore and Novotel Beijing Sanyuan in China, its website states. The company said in its March statement that its net asset value per stapled security as at Dec 31, 2015, would be 84.2 Singapore cents, instead of the 70.3 cents announced previously, based on updated valuations.

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