Ascott signs deals with China, Japan, Thailand developers

Singapore

ASCOTT Limited, the serviced residence unit of mainboard-listed CapitaLand, has struck deals with developers in China, Japan and Thailand to manage apartments currently under development by them and also their future projects, it said on Monday.

In China, Ascott is partnering township developer Riverside Group to launch serviced residences in Zhejiang, Chongqing and future riverside themed towns in other key cities.

This tie-up will start with two serviced residences with a total of 350 units in Zhejiang and Chongqing, and follows Ascott's contract with Riverside Group to manage the 190-unit Ascott Riverside Garden Beijing which opened in November last year, CapitaLand said.

In Japan, Ascott entered a business cooperation agreement with NTT Urban Development Corporation - a subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation - to jointly explore serviced residence opportunities in Japan. The companies are also currently working on two projects in Fukuoka and Yokohama.

In Thailand, Ascott is partnering Ananda Development as the latter expands into the serviced residence business.

The first four properties under the tie-up - Somerset Rama 9 Bangkok, Ascott Embassy Sathorn Bangkok, Ascott Thonglor Bangkok and one more property in Sukhumvit 8 - will offer close to 1,500 apartment units in Bangkok when they open between 2020 and 2021.

Between January and February, Ascott added 1,607 units to its portfolio, and will see management and lease agreements for another 3,400 apartment units across 14 properties in 10 cities in China, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia in the current quarter.

These will include a lease agreement with department store chain Takashimaya to operate the first Citadines Apart' hotel in Osaka.

Said Kevin Goh, Ascott's chief executive officer: "By leveraging Ascott's global network of close to 100,000 corporate clients, we will create significant cross-marketing opportunities across the globe for our properties to maximise returns for our partners."

"We are confident of achieving our global target of 80,000 units this year, and to double our portfolio to 160,000 units by 2023. We will continue to scale up through investments, strategic alliances, management contracts, leases and franchises."

CapitaLand shares closed flat at S$3.61 on Monday.