Record-breaking sale puts ibis under the hammer

AccorInvest is selling 23 Australian hotels for more than $300 million in one of the biggest portfolio deals in accommodation history.

The package of 24 freehold economy hotels and six lease holdings encompasses some 3000 rooms spread across the country.

It includes four ibis hotels and 13 ibis Budget hotels, including the ibis Hotel and Apartments Melbourne, ibis Sydney Airport, ibis Budget Sydney Olympic Park and ibis Newcastle.

The lease interests include The COMO Mgallery by Sofitel in Melbourne, the Novotel Brisbane, Mercure and ibis hotels in Brisbane and the Mercure and ibis hotels in Perth.

[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”27469″ align=”left” padding=”10″]AccorInvest is the investment platform of AccorHotels, which signalled the sale when it bought the Mantra Group for $1.2 billion earlier this year.

AccorInvest is majority owned by overseas sovereign investment funds and comprises 891 owned or leased hotels, with the Australian portfolio just a small part of the total.

Accor says it is selling the portfolio to focus attention on international projects.  It joins a number of large hotel groups divesting interests as they look to counter growing competition from Airbnb and other industry disruptors.

Craig Collins of JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group which is managing the sale, said it was the first time such an offering had been presented to the open market in Australia.

”The pure scale of this portfolio and its diversity, in terms of location, market positioning and income profile, presents investors with an opportunity to immediately establish an unparalleled foothold in one of Asia Pacific’s most highly sought-after hotel investment destinations,” he said.

 “Economy hotels are a highly proven and successful hotel model in the Australian market. Their typically low operating costs and high level of profitability make them very attractive investments.”

Fund managers and high net worth investors have been touted as potential buyers, including Sydney Sofitel Darling Harbour owner Jerry Schwartz.

While the preference is to sell the hotels as a package, AccorInvest will also consider offers for individual properties or batches of hotels in the portfolio.

The real estate assets occupy a combined 54,500 square metres of land.