Macquarie to sell Seoul hotel to KB Asset for $119 million

Macquarie Asset Management is poised to sell a four-star hotel in Seoul for about 170 billion won ($118.7 million) to South Korea’s KB Asset Management, investment banking industry sources said on Friday.

Macquarie is scheduled to close the deal on Feb. 28 to sell Four Points by Sheraton Josun, Seoul Station, to the wholly owned subsidiary of KB Financial Group, the sources said.

The hotel, which opened in 2015, has 342 rooms. It is leased and operated by Josun Hotels & Resorts Co., a subsidiary of South Korea’s largest supermarket chain E-Mart Inc.  Its lease expires in 2035.

KB Asset Management was known to have successfully financed the acquisition by using 60 billion won in equity capital and blind funds from affiliates, according to the sources.

BEATS BLUECOVE BACKED BY GIC

Macquarie selected KB Asset Management as the preferred bidder in December last year even though BlueCove Investment backed by Singapore’s GIC Private Ltd., the world’s sixth-largest sovereign wealth fund, placed a higher offer.

The asset management division of Australia’s Macquarie Group reportedly selected KB Asset Management as it was seen as more likely to close the deal, sources said.

Investment in South Korean hotels is growing thanks to a rebound in tourism.

Global real estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL) expects hotel transactions in the country to jump 41% on-year to 2.3 trillion won in 2025.

The revenue per available room (RevPAR) of local premium hotels shot up 62% last year from 2019 before the outbreak of COVID-19. The RevPAR is predicted to increase 5-10% this year.

Write to Gyeong-Jin Min at min@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheo edited this article.