Ascott strengthens position in China, Southeast Asia with four properties

Social kitchen at lyf
Social kitchen at lyf. CapitaLand

CapitaLand's wholly owned serviced residence business unit, The Ascott Limited on Monday said it won contracts to manage four properties with 1,200 units in new cities such as Malacca in Malaysia and Davao in the Philippines.

The property developer added that it was deepening its presence in Guangzhou in China and Cebu in the Philippines, it said in a statement.

"We see immense potential to scale up to 160,000 units worldwide in the next five years," Kevin Goh, Ascott's Chief Executive Officer, said.

"We will focus on key gateway cities in our two biggest markets, China and Southeast Asia, as well as markets such as Australia, Europe, Japan, South Korea and the U.S. Expanding our global network will allow us to leverage greater economies of scale and strengthen our earnings."

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With its latest deals, Ascott has entered new investment destinations Malacca and Davao. Its Somerset property in Malacca, Ascott's largest property to date, will benefit from an upcoming free economic zone and sea port.

"The Chinese are our top customers at our properties globally and continues to be the fastest growing segment in 2017, growing at 33 percent year-on-year," said Goh.

The new management contracts have increased Ascott's portfolio in Southeast Asia to about 23,000 units in 111 properties across 34 cities.

Its newly secured properties in Guangzhou has also strengthened Ascott's foothold in China with over 20,000 units in about 110 properties across 31 cities.

This article was first published on January 29, 2018
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