The Ascott Limited

The Ascott Limited

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Hospitality
Founded	1984 (1984)
Headquarters	Singapore
Number of locations	Over 700 properties
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Kevin Goh, CEO
Products	Serviced apartments Hotels Co-living spaces
Number of employees	5,000–10,000
Parent	CapitaLand
Website	www.discoverasr.com/en

The Ascott Limited is a Singaporean real estate and lodging company and a subsidiary of CapitaLand. ^[1]

History

Founding years (1984–2000)

On 14 August 1984, Scotts Holdings opened The Ascott Singapore, the first international-class serviced residence in the Asia Pacific region. ^[2] The name “Ascott” was coined by Ameerali Jumabhoy to represent Scotts Road in Singapore ^[3] (where the first property was located at) and a nod to the famed British races at Ascot, due to the family's association with equestrian sports. ^[4] Scotts Holdings eventually merged with Stamford Group, the serviced residence arm of DBS Land, to form The Ascott Limited (hereinafter referred to as “Ascott”), creating a joint portfolio of more than 1,700 units in eight cities. ^[5]

In 1998, Pidemco Land set up its first serviced residence arm, Somerset International, and acquired Liang Court Holdings, then one of Asia's largest serviced residence operators, to form Somerset Holdings. ^[6]

Ascott and Somerset Holdings merged in 2000, leading to a total portfolio of 6,000 serviced residences across 10 countries following the merger of DBS Land and Pidemco Land to form CapitaLand Limited. ^[7] Ascott would later become a wholly owned subsidiary of the CapitaLand Limited on 28 April 2008. ^[8] Ascott is presently the wholly owned lodging arm of CapitaLand Investment following a strategic restructuring of CapitaLand Limited and listing of CapitaLand Investment on 20 September 2021.

Growth and expansion (2000–)

In 2003, Ascott acquired a 50% interest for EUR84.2 million (SGD47.5 million) in Citadines, a pan-European serviced residence chain with properties across France, the UK, Belgium, Spain and Germany, thereby increasing its overall portfolio to 13,500 serviced units in 37 cities across 16 countries. ^[9] By 2004, Citadines was acquired fully for an additional EUR74.3 million (SGD154.2 million) by Ascott, which by then owned three brands: Ascott The Residence, Citadines and Somerset. ^[10]

In 2014, Ascott entered a strategic partnership with Quest Apartment Hotels (hereinafter referred to as “Quest”), then the largest serviced apartment provider with 112 properties in Australia, by acquiring 20% stake in the company for AUD28.8 million (SGD32.3 million). ^[11] In 2017, Ascott increased its stake in Quest to a majority share of 80% for AUD180 million (SGD191 million), propelling it to become the largest serviced residence provider in Australasia, with 11,000 units in 180 properties located across cities in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. ^[12]

In 2016, Ascott launched its new co-living brand, Lyf, which develops upscale communal accommodation for young travellers, in order to accommodate millennials who continue to rapidly enter the work force and are becoming the focal point of economic innovation. ^[13] Lyf develops co-living spaces that provide upscale communal accommodation for young travellers. New signings for Lyf were acquired for properties in China, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and France. ^[14] To date, Lyf has since debuted in Australia, China, Japan, Singapore and Thailand.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2017, Ascott acquired an 80% majority stake for USD33.7m (SGD46.7m) in Synergy Global Housing, a US-based corporate accommodation company that has a strong foothold in the United States, particularly with corporations and high-tech powerhouses based in Silicon Valley. With this acquisition, Ascott tripled its portfolio in the USA to approximately 3,000 units.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2018, Ascott acquired a 70% majority stake for USD25.9 million (SGD35.4 million) in Indonesia's Green Oak Hotel Management (GOHM), the holding company of TAUZIA Hotels (hereinafter referred to as “TAUZIA”), one of Indonesia's top five hotel operators. ^[15] At the time of acquisition, TAUZIA operated close to 20,000 units in 122 hotels across Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. The acquisition was a strategic move by Ascott to access the rapidly expanding middle-class business hotel segment, with about 70% of TAUZIA's hotels catering to business and convention travellers and the remainder to leisure travellers. ^[16]

In 2022, Ascott acquired serviced apartment brand, Oakwood, from Mapletree Investments. The purchase consideration was not disclosed, and the transaction added some 81 properties and about 15,000 units to Ascott’s global portfolio. ^[17]

References

1. "Ascott Opens Record 7,500 Units And Signs Over 14,100 Units In 2019 To Boost Fee Income". hospitalitynet.org. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
2. "The Ascott Limited: Pioneer in serviced residences". hospitality-on.com/en. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
3. "Patriarch of Scotts Holdings, Ameerali R Jumabhoy, dies at 94". businesstimes.com.sg. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
4. "Larger than life: Businessman and community leader Ameer Jumabhoy". straitstimes.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
5. "The Ascott Limited : Pioneer in serviced residences". hospitality-on.com/en. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
6. "Liang Court Mall Singapore to Be SOLD to CapitaLand and CDL for S$400m". scs.sg. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
7. "DBS Land, Pidemco Plan Merger To Create Huge Property Group". WSJ. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
8. "CapitaLand makes offer for rest of Ascott Group". WSJ. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
9. "Ascott Acquires 50 Per Cent Interest In Citadines, A Pan-European Serviced Residence Chain". hospitalitynet.org. Archived from the original on 17 March 2005. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
10. "Ascott buys rest of Citadines to become global apart-hotel player". thecaterer.com. 3 June 2004. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
11. "Ascott acquires majority stake in Quest apartment hotels for a$180 million to become largest serviced residence provider in Australasia". 4hoteliers.com.
12. "Ascott acquires majority stake in Quest apartment hotels for a$180 million to become largest serviced residence provider in Australasia". hospitalitynet.org. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
13. Lee, Xin En (25 November 2016). "Ascott launches brand targeted at millennials". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 27 July 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
14. "Ascott's co-living brand lyf adds 6 new properties in Australia, China, Philippines". businesstimes.com.sg. 30 July 2020. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
15. "CapitaLand invests US$26m for 70% stake in Indonesia hotel operator". businesstimes.com.sg. 17 September 2018. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
16. "Ascott invests $35m in Indonesian hotel chain". The Straits Times. 18 September 2018. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
17. "Ascott to acquire Oakwood Worldwide from Mapletree Investments". www.businesstimes.com.sg. 4 July 2022. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023.