Thailand's Singha Estate buys hotels from Hawaiian firm for US$250m

[BANGKOK] Thai property firm Singha Estate said on Tuesday it would buy six hotels across four countries from a Hawaii-based hotel group for about US$250 million.

Singha Estate will buy a total of 859 rooms from properties on the resort islands of Phuket and Samui in Thailand, Mauritius, the Maldives and Fiji from Outrigger Hotels Hawaii.

Singha Estate, the property arm of beer maker Boon Rawd Brewery, best known for pale lager Singha, said it might repay up to US$100 million of loans owed by the properties.

The investment is part of Singha Estate's strategy to invest in hotels and resorts in prime tourist destinations, it said in a statement.

Singha Estate chairman said in October the company was aiming to increase overseas revenue to 30 per cent of the total from the current 20 per cent.

The purchase comes after a string of deals by the Thai developer in the Maldives and Bangkok last year.

Hotels made up about 18 per cent of Singha Estate's total revenue of 5.86 billion baht (S$246.6 million) in 2017.

REUTERS