Japan’s Seibu Prince to buy boutique hospitality brand Ace Hotel
The deal includes the hospitality brand and an in-house creative agency Atelier Ace
[NEW YORK] Seibu Prince Hotels Worldwide reached a deal to acquire the parent company of Ace Hotel, betting that the influential lodging brand can help the firm expand globally.
Seibu Prince, based in Tokyo, agreed to pay US$90 million for Ace Group International, according to a statement. The deal includes the hospitality brand and an in-house creative agency Atelier Ace. It is expected to close by Sep 30.
Bloomberg News previously reported that Ace was nearing a deal to sell itself to Seibu Prince after engaging adviser Jones Lang LaSalle to explore strategic options.
“Seibu Prince brings scale, infrastructure, and development expertise across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, while Ace has deep credibility and a proven track record in North America and Europe,” said Seibu Prince chief executive officer Yoshiki Kaneda. “By combining these strengths, we can expand faster and more effectively together.”
In Ace, Seibu Prince is acquiring a boutique-hotel brand with outsize influence in the lodging world. It got its start in 1999, when it opened its first hotel in a former halfway house in Seattle and began courting a clientele of artists, musicians and people who wanted to hang out with them. The brand expanded to other cities, including New York and Palm Springs, California.
The brand has properties in Athens, Kyoto and Toronto, and is adding an Ace Hotel Fukuoka in 2027. In 2023, Ace agreed to sell itself for US$85 million, but the deal fell apart.
Seibu Prince, a core company of Seibu Group, operates a hospitality business that includes hotels, golf courses and ski resorts, with outposts in Japan, Singapore, Bahrain and the US.
Lifestyle hotel brands have been consolidating in the past couple of years. Other recent deals include Hyatt Hotels’ 2024 acquisition of the Standard, and Hilton Worldwide Holdings’ purchase of NoMad Hotels the same year.
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