Big money flowing into resorts
As Vietnam is a bright spot in the region for tourism, hotels and resorts in Vietnam are being eyed by more investors.
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The comeback of Dang Van Thanh, a well-known businessman, in 2014 has brought changes to Thanh Thanh Cong Group (TTC). Not only investing in sugar mills, TTC has also made long term investments in the tourism sector.
Through its two subsidiaries – Thanh Thanh Cong Investment JSC and Thang Loi Tourism JSC — TTC spent VND70 billion to buy a stake of Vinagolf to become the biggest shareholder of the tourism company.
Vinagolf owns three 4-star hotels in Da Lat, Can Tho and Cambodia, and some 2-3 star-hotels in Da Lat and Hoi An.
Prior to that, TTC wrapped up takeover of the 4-star Michelia hotel in Nha Trang City and the 4-star resort in Phan Thiet.
Thanh believes that M&A is the quickest way for investors to expand business. Most recently, it completed the purchase of two hotels in Phan Thiet and Binh Thuan. These included the 4-star Park Diamond, which has been renamed TTC Hotel Premium – Phan Thiet, and a 2-star hotel which has been renamed TTC Palace Binh Thuan.
It also has successfully taken over the Bau Truc resort in Ninh Thuan province and plans to inject US$10 million into the Doc Let Tourism Complex to upgrade into a 4-star facility.
In addition to M&A deals, TTC has been cooperating with other enterprises to develop accommodation facilities, including 4-5-star hotels in Hoi An.
JLL Vietnam, a real estate service provider, commented that the Vietnamese real estate market would continue to be bustling in 2017 with a lot of M&A deals to be made. It believes that hundreds of millions of dollars will flow into different segments of the tourism real estate market, especially the hotel sector.
According to Real Capital Analytics, a series of accommodation transfer deals were made recently.
VOF (Vietnam Opportunity Fund) managed by VinaCapital has sold all of its stakes in Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel Hanoi, a joint venture with Hanoitourist, to VinaCapital - Warburg Pincus LLC, reaping US$100 million.
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel Hanoi was the third largest investment deal of VOF. The other two were Vinamilk and Hoa Phat Group.
VinaCapital - Warburg Pincus LLC is a US$300 million joint venture established to develop and take over hotels in Vietnam and ASEAN.
After many years of investing in Long Beach Resort Phu Quoc, in the first quarter of 2017, Berjaya Land Bhd, belonging to Berjaya Group, negotiated the transfer of 70% of capital contributions in the joint venture to Sulyna Hospitality Hotel Restaurant Travel Service Co., Ltd.
