Blackstone late Thursday announced a binding agreement to buy eight hotels in Japan from Kintetsu Group Holdings, in the latest case of a US fund manager teaming with a Japanese conglomerate looking to raise cash and cut costs by offloading non-core assets amid COVID-19 uncertainty.
US-based Blackstone said the portfolio it is purchasing from the railway group includes three prime assets: the 988-room Miyako Kyoto Hachijo across from Kyoto station; the 456-room Universal City, adjacent to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka; and the newly-built Miyako Hakata, with 208 rooms, next to Hakata station in Fukuoka.
“This is a unique opportunity that grants Blackstone access to a sizeable, high-quality hotel portfolio in Japan’s top hospitality markets, and we’re thrilled that Kintetsu has chosen to partner with us,” said Christopher Heady, head of real estate in Asia for the NYSE-listed firm.
The sale price of the eight hotels was undisclosed, however, Kintetsu said in a statement that the properties had a book value of JPY 42.3 billion ($390 million) as of 31 March 2020, with the Miyako Hakata alone accounting for JPY 14.3 billion.
Source: Mingtiandi
By Christopher Caillavet
