ARA H-Trust completes acquisition of three US hotels for US$84m

ARA US Hospitality Trust (ARA H-Trust) has completed the acquisition of three US hotels for US$84 million, its managers said in a bourse filing on Monday.

The freehold properties are AC by Marriott Raleigh North Hills in North Carolina, as well as Courtyard San Antonio and Residence Inn San Antonio both in The Rim shopping district in Texas.

Parties agreed on a final price of US$84 million, which is a 5.5 per cent discount to the three hotels' total market value of US$88.9 million as at Dec 1, 2019, according to independent valuer HVS Consulting and Valuation Services.

In November, the proposed consideration for the Marriott-branded select-service hotels had been US$84.5 million.

ARA H-Trust managers used about US$16.9 million from the initial public offering (IPO) proceeds to partially fund the acquisition, they said on Monday. With this, all net proceeds from the IPO has been fully utilised as at Jan 20.

The managers also took out US$75 million in loans in December to partially finance the acquisition.

ARA H-Trust units were trading up US$0.005 or 0.6 per cent to US$0.87 as at 10.50am on Monday, after the announcement was made.