Mirae wins U.S. lawsuit against China’s Anbang: South Korean investment bank Mirae Asset Daewoo and affiliates won a U.S. court case against Anbang Insurance Group, after Mirae scrapped a US$5.8 billion deal after the start of the pandemic to buy 15 U.S. hotels from Anbang. The case in Delaware could set a precedent for deals that have seen valuations drop since the COVID-19 pandemic, as buyers no longer want to buy assets under the terms of agreements reached before.
Airbnb seeks valuation of up to US$35B for IPO: Airbnb plans to price at US$44 to US$50 per share in its IPO, giving it a valuation of up to US$35 billion on a fully diluted basis, according to a new filing it submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company aims to raise about US$2.5 billion in the initial public offering. Existing investors seek to sell US$96 million worth of stock in the IPO. Airbnb’s last private valuation was US$18 billion, after it raised US$2 billion in debt earlier this year as the company struggled in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.
AMS, Black Salmon form JV: AMS Hospitality, comprising real estate firm The Allen Morris Co. and Stormont Hospitality Group, and Miami-based commercial real estate investment firm Black Salmon announced a joint venture with plans to acquire US$300 million in hospitality assets across the U.S. within the next 18 months. Its first acquisition is The Pelham Hotel in New Orleans, a 65-key boutique hotel that will undergo a renovation. HRI Properties will manage. The JV will seek hotel properties whose prices have decreased from pre-pandemic values.
Oxford Capital acquires five: Oxford Capital Group acquired five California hotels with plans to reposition many of the assets. The group’s affiliate, Chicago-based Oxford Hotels & Resorts, will take over management. These five hotels bring Oxford’s Bay Area footprint to nine properties. Oxford Capital founder and CEO John Rutledge called the deals “contrarian” and “a compelling portfolio of assets in strong locations and submarkets, conservatively leveraged.” Three of the hotels are in downtown San Francisco – the 153-room King George Hotel, the 62-room Hotel Griffon and the 30-room The Inn at Union Square – and two are in Silicon Valley: the 136-room Creekside Inn in Palo Alto and the 72-room Hotel Los Gatos in Los Gatos. Terms of the sales were not disclosed.
Mondrian Gold Coast: Australian developer Vitale Projects partnered with Accor and SBE to open the Mondrian Gold Coast, a beachfront site at southeast Queensland’s Burleigh Heads. The hotel is one of nine new Mondrian properties that SBE plans to open globally by 2022, with six more to be announced. It follows the company’s recent opening of Mondrian Seoul Itaewon, and the announcement of Mondrian Shoreditch London set to open in 2021.
Hotel sustainability study: More than 18,000 hotels contributed information regarding greenhouse gas emissions, along with energy and water usage, to the seventh annual Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking study. Complete as of 2018, the data show that the participating hotels have generally continued to reduce energy and water usage. While the data permit hoteliers and potential guests to see benchmarks for various hotel segments and locations, individual hotel amenities cannot be accounted for in terms of energy or water usage.
Chatham sells Residence Inn by Marriott San Diego: West Palm Beach, Florida-based Chatham Lodging Trust, a lodging REIT that invests in upscale, extended-stay hotels and premium-branded, select-service hotels, has completed the sale of the 192-room Residence by Marriott San Diego Mission Valley for US$67 million to the San Diego Housing Commission. Proceeds will repay the US$27 million mortgage on the hotel.