CapitaLand Investment’s lodging business Ascott is acquiring Oakwood Worldwide, a global serviced apartment provider, from Mapletree Investments for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition increases Ascott’s global portfolio by 81 properties and about 15,000 units.

The company said Ascott’s acquisition of Oakwood would leapfrog its global presence to more than 150,000 units in about 900 properties across over 200 cities in 39 countries.

It will add new markets which include Cheongju in South Korea; Zhangjiakou and Qingdao in China; Dhaka in Bangladesh as well as Washington DC in the US.

Kevin Goh, CapitaLand Investment’s CEO for lodging, said: “This acquisition of Oakwood is part of Ascott’s roadmap to playing a bigger role in the lodging market.

“There are significant synergies between Ascott and Oakwood, given our complementary footprint and product offerings. We intend to build on the strong reputation and heritage of the Oakwood brand, especially in markets across Southeast Asia, North Asia and North America”

He described the deal as one of the strategic moves Ascott had made in the last few years, such as investing in Quest, Synergy and TAUZIA – all of which “have charted an unprecedented growth path for Ascott”.

Mapletree first bought into the Oakwood International business in 2014 when it spoke of developing and acquiring “some US$4bn (€3.8bn) worth” of corporate and serviced apartment assets within Asia, Europe and North America”.

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