Singapore's Kum family considers Novotel Langley Hotel buy

Singapore’s Kum family is reportedly looking to acquire the Novotel Langley Hotel in Perth. If the deal goes through, more than $80 million could change hands for the property.

The 256-room hotel is controlled by funds management group Alceon, which arranged a capital restructure for the property three years ago, carving it off from a larger $800-million portfolio. The remainder of the portfolio was bought by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority from the private Tourism Asset Holdings Limited. 

The Kum family has been busy in Australia this year. Earlier this year, the family scrapped its $1.5-billion sale of the bulk of its M&L Hospitality hotels portfolio in spite of "hefty offers" for its key properties.

These include one of Sydney’s largest hotels—the Four Points by Sheraton Sydney, which is being remade into a major hotel and office complex. The 2,089-room M&L portfolio also included the Travelodge Docklands in Melbourne, the Hilton Auckland, Christchurch’s Chateau on the Park, and Sydney’s Swissotel. The Travelodge Docklands is reportedly on the market for more than $100 million through Colliers International.

The family decided to retain its hotel empire across Australia and New Zealand as values in the sector surged, particularly in Sydney, where the group is overhauling one of the city’s largest hotels, the Four Points by Sheraton Sydney, into a Hyatt Regency.