Starwood Hotels & Resorts continued down its asset-light path on Friday by announcing the sale of the 557-room Sheraton on the Park in Sydney to a Chinese company, Sunshine Insurance Group Corp., for A$463 million (US$399 million). Starwood will continue to operate the hotel as a Sheraton under a long-term management contract.
Including this sale and the recent sales of The St. Regis Rome, Sheraton Ambassador Monterrey and The St. Regis Bal Harbour, Starwood has completed more than US$1.5 billion of hotel-asset sales over the last three years.
Starwood also on Friday declared a regular quarterly dividend of US$0.35 per share as well as a fourth and final US$0.65 special dividend to be paid in connection with the realization of approximately US$500 million in net cash from the sale of The St. Regis Bal Harbour residential project and hotel.
“We’re continuing to see strong investor interest around the world for our remaining assets and remain committed to finding the right owners and partners while securing long-term management contracts in order to create value for our shareholders,” said Simon Turner, president of global development for Starwood.
Starwood continues to expand its portfolio in Australia and the Pacific through management and franchise agreements. The company currently operates 14 hotels in Australia, including the recently opened Four Points by Sheraton Brisbane and Sheraton Melbourne Hotel. Upcoming openings include Aloft Perth Rivervale, The Westin Perth and W Brisbane in 2017.