Ascott to acquire Somerset Central in Vietnam for US$9.45 million

Ascott will also open Somerset Danang Bay and Somerset Saigon Ho Chi Minh City by 2014.

According to a release, CapitaLand’s wholly-owned serviced residence business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott), has entered into a conditional joint venture agreement with Thuy Duong Investment Joint Stock Company whereby Ascott will acquire a 90% stake in Somerset Central TD Hai Phong City, Vietnam for US$9.45 million (S$11.4 million).

Ascott was awarded the management contract for the 132-unit Somerset Central TD Hai Phong City in 2009 by Thuy Duong Investment Joint Stock Company, an established real estate company with developments across Vietnam‟s major cities. The acquisition of Somerset Central TD Hai Phong City will allow Ascott to take control of the development and enhance the value of the serviced residence.

Somerset Central TD Hai Phong City will be the first international brand of serviced residence in Hai Phong when it opens in the second half of 2012. Besides Somerset Central TD Hai Phong City, Ascott will be opening Somerset Danang Bay and Somerset Saigon Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam by 2014. As the largest international serviced residence owner-operator in Vietnam, Ascott currently operates over 860 apartment units across six properties (four properties in Hanoi and two in Ho Chi Minh City).

Mr Lim Ming Yan, Ascott‟s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our strategy for Southeast Asia is to invest in key cities with strong potential for serviced residences. Vietnam is one of our key markets in Southeast Asia and we hold a long-term view of our investments in the country. Vietnam‟s probusiness regulatory environment and growing educated workforce will continue to attract multinational companies to set up operations. This will in turn generate demand for serviced residences. We are glad to be able to add Somerset Central TD Hai Phong City to our portfolio of quality properties.”

Mr Alfred Ong, Ascott‟s Managing Director for Southeast Asia and Australia, said: “The development of Hai Phong is one of the Vietnamese government‟s top priorities and its GDP is projected to grow by about 13% over the next five years. As foreign direct investments increase and the city expands its industrial and export processing zones, demand for quality accommodation will rise."

"By investing in Somerset Central TD Hai Phong City, we will be able to gain first mover advantage as there is no international serviced residence in Hai Phong. Besides opening three more properties in Hai Phong, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City in the coming years, we are constantly looking for investment opportunities and management contracts to strengthen Ascott‟s leadership position in Vietnam,” he added.

You're the reader we write for. You're also the person our partners want to reach.

If that sentence describes you — a founder, a C-suite, someone whose attention companies pay good money for — then you already understand why SBR works. We've spent twenty years earning the trust of readers exactly like you. Which is exactly what makes this an interesting place for your company to show up, too.

The ways it can show up are broader than most people assume — thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The right fit depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If your company has something this audience should know about, we'd like to hear what you're working on.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia

Top News

30 One-Sentence Stories From People Who Have Built Better Habits

None of these stories are mine. They were sent to me by readers of Atomic Habits. My hope is that these examples will illustrate how real people are putting the book into practice. They will show you what people are actually doing to build good habits and break bad ones. And hopefully, they will spark some ideas for how you can do the same.

news conversion

SBR 5 Lorem Ipsum News 2 [8 May]

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

SBR 4 Lorem Ipsum [8 May Top Stories]