Singapore tycoon Tan Boy Tee, best known for his maritime business, is taking a plunge in the hotel business in the U.S. with the purchase of a majority stake in the 89-hotel Red Roof Inn portfolio.
Tan made the acquisition through his privately held company Bestford Capital and teamed up with Westmont Hospitality to put together a winning bid of U$600 million for the US chain. Westmont will hold on to a minority stake and continue to operate the chain, which includes 10,715 rooms, Commercial Mortgage Alert reported.
In the past month alone, Singapore investors have spent $1.9 billion on 116 hospitality assets, Savills Research reported, making it the fifth largest source of capital for hotel assets behind the US, Qatar, China and the United Arab Emirates.
With a shortage of opportunities in Singapore, more investors are heading abroad. Singaporean investors were responsible for 8.9 percent of hotel deals in the US this year, in large part due to Tan’s latest purchase.