Stamford Land puts Australia, NZ hotels up for sale for A$1b: report
LUXURY hotel owner-operator Stamford Land Corp is reportedly looking to sell six of its vacant properties in Australia and New Zealand, for a total of more than A$1 billion (S$1.02 billion).
The hotels that are on the market are Stamford Grand Adelaide, Stamford Plaza Adelaide, Stamford Plaza Melbourne, Stamford Plaza Sydney Airport, Sir Stamford Circular Quay, and Stamford Plaza Auckland, according to online news portal realestatesource.com.au.
There are a total of 1,569 rooms across the six hotels, which are available for purchase individually and form the bulk of the group's local hospitality portfolio, the report added.
In March, mainboard-listed Stamford Land announced it was "exploring the possibility" of divesting part of its hospitality portfolio, to move to an asset-light strategy for the business segment.
However, it will continue to maintain its hotel management business, H07 said in a regulatory filing at the time.
Sales proceeds from selling hospitality assets will be re-invested into Stamford Land's core businesses in investment properties, it said in the March 27 announcement. The company also plans to continue expanding its development business, and explore the expansion of these sectors outside Australia, New Zealand and the UK, into other mature or developed markets.
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The news report said that the portfolio for sale does not include Stamford Plaza Brisbane, "which has development upside", and part of the proceeds may go into Stamford Land's apartment construction business. Marketing agents for the six hotels are CBRE and JLL, according to the report.
On Tuesday before market open, Stamford Land said in a bourse filing that it has indeed appointed the two real estate agencies, but it did not confirm whether and which hotels have been listed for sale.
It added that "nothing has changed from what the company had disclosed in its announcement dated March 27, 2021".
As at Tuesday, no definitive agreements or arrangements have been entered into, and there is no certainty that any divestments or other transactions will materialise, Stamford Land said in the morning announcement.
Stamford Land, CBRE and JLL did not respond directly to The Business Times' request for comment.
Shares of Stamford Land climbed 7.8 per cent or S$0.04 to trade at S$0.55 as at 3.50pm on Tuesday, after the filing. The stock had advanced 9.7 per cent at Monday's close.
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