Seibu Holdings' subsidiary Prince Hotels has acquired Australia-based StayWell Hospitality Group and all of its business operations for about $38 million. Prince Hotels will establish the 100 percent fully-owned Australian subsidiary StayWell Holdings, which will acquire all shares of SWHG's 22 operating subsidiary companies from SWHG. Proceedings are expected to be completed within the next three months.
This acquisition will add the 30 hotels operated and developed by SWHG in seven countries and 21 cities to the existing Prince Hotels network. Eighteen of these hotels are currently operating while 12 are under development. The brands operating under StayWell Group are Park Regis and Leisure Inn.
The new properties will assist in expanding Seibu Group's global development and operation platforms while expanding the group's profit-earning opportunities. They will also allow the group to develop hotels in Southeast Asia, Asia and Oceania, the Middle East and Europe faster. Once the deal is finalized, Seibu Group will deploy 100 hotels in 10 years. They will increase Prince Hotels’ portfolio to 49 hotels – 42 in Japan and 7 international hotels—as of July 7, 2017.
“Prince Hotels is enjoying good performance with the recent growth of tourism within Japan," said Shigeyoshi Akasaka, president and representative director, Prince Hotels. "During these favourable conditions, we are looking toward the year 2020 and beyond and focusing on international expansion. To expand overseas, we believe that it is important to not only expand strategic bases but also to cultivate internationally minded personnel. SWHG operates hotels in seven countries and has many talented personnel who understand the regional characteristics of each country where SWHG operates. As a family of Prince Hotels, the business with SWHG will bring us significant beneficial opportunities and international elements.”
StayWell Hospitality Group has continued to work under the leadership of Simon Wan. Prince Hotels will also continue to work with StayWell’s existing strategic partners, including Manhattan Hotel Group in China, Cristal Group in the Middle East and FiveWays Hospitality in the United Kingdom. The transaction will enable the further expansion and development of StayWell’s business.
The share transfer agreement and formalities have already been settled. The final acquisition will be done by October 2017.