01-02-2014, 10:37 AM
3rd time lucky but listing Down Under
M&L Hospitality could beat Mantra to list on ASX
BRIDGET CARTER THE AUSTRALIAN JANUARY 28, 2014 12:00AM
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THERE are signals in the market that M&L Hospitality could beat Mantra to list on the Australian Securities Exchange, with chatter in the last week that investment bank CIMB is sounding out fund managers about their investment interest in a local listing.
The company is run by Singapore tycoon Michael Kum and owns a collection of Australian hotels, including the Four Points by Sheraton in Sydney's Darling Harbour.
Listed hotel companies have previously been seen as less attractive to Australian investors, given their exposure to the volatile tourism sector, and have been a more favoured choice with those in Singapore.
However, some Australian hotel markets have recently been performing strongly, with reports of a lift in corporate bookings this month, as the dollar falls and consumer sentiment improves.
It is understood that M&L has a listing in either Australia or Singapore up for discussion.
Kum paid $54 million for Travelodge Docklands in Melbourne in 2011, $90m for Sydney's Swissotel in 2010 and $185m for Sydney's Four Points by Sheraton at Darling Harbour in 2009, and a move to list his company in Australia would create the only public hotel owner since the $410m takeover of Thakral Holdings by Brookfield in 2012.
Brookfield placed some properties in the Thakral portfolio on the market last year, but did not sell all of the assets, and questions remain around Brookfield's intentions for the $600m Australian hotel portfolio it secured through the Thakral transaction.
A listing by Kum's company could be followed later in the year by hotel operator Mantra after the company was withdrawn from a sales campaign in 2012. The owners of the company, CVC Asia Pacific and UBS, had hoped Mantra would attract bids above $400m. Archer Capital was one of the two main contenders for the business, with an offer of $350m.
Meanwhile, Australasia's largest serviced apartment group, Quest, has been moving to sell its development pipeline to an institutional partner.
M&L Hospitality could beat Mantra to list on ASX
BRIDGET CARTER THE AUSTRALIAN JANUARY 28, 2014 12:00AM
THERE are signals in the market that M&L Hospitality could beat Mantra to list on the Australian Securities Exchange, with chatter in the last week that investment bank CIMB is sounding out fund managers about their investment interest in a local listing.
The company is run by Singapore tycoon Michael Kum and owns a collection of Australian hotels, including the Four Points by Sheraton in Sydney's Darling Harbour.
Listed hotel companies have previously been seen as less attractive to Australian investors, given their exposure to the volatile tourism sector, and have been a more favoured choice with those in Singapore.
However, some Australian hotel markets have recently been performing strongly, with reports of a lift in corporate bookings this month, as the dollar falls and consumer sentiment improves.
It is understood that M&L has a listing in either Australia or Singapore up for discussion.
Kum paid $54 million for Travelodge Docklands in Melbourne in 2011, $90m for Sydney's Swissotel in 2010 and $185m for Sydney's Four Points by Sheraton at Darling Harbour in 2009, and a move to list his company in Australia would create the only public hotel owner since the $410m takeover of Thakral Holdings by Brookfield in 2012.
Brookfield placed some properties in the Thakral portfolio on the market last year, but did not sell all of the assets, and questions remain around Brookfield's intentions for the $600m Australian hotel portfolio it secured through the Thakral transaction.
A listing by Kum's company could be followed later in the year by hotel operator Mantra after the company was withdrawn from a sales campaign in 2012. The owners of the company, CVC Asia Pacific and UBS, had hoped Mantra would attract bids above $400m. Archer Capital was one of the two main contenders for the business, with an offer of $350m.
Meanwhile, Australasia's largest serviced apartment group, Quest, has been moving to sell its development pipeline to an institutional partner.