Warburg Pincus-backed Weave Living has acquired an 88-room hotel in Singapore for S$74.8m (€50.1m), marking the entry of the Hong Kong-based rental accommodation company into Singapore.
Weave Living has acquired the Clover Hotel with a minority partner, the Singapore-listed SLB Development.
The founder and chief executive of Weaving Living, Sachin Doshi, told IPE Real Assets: “Weave Living owns a significant majority while SLB has taken a minority stake. Weave will be responsible for repositioning, managing and operating the property.
“We are looking at further acquisition opportunities in Singapore over the next 12-18 months as we seek to grow Weave Living’s presence in Singapore’s rental accommodation sector in a meaningful way.”
Asked about his timing, Doshi responded: “This is an interesting time to expand our platform into Singapore, given the city-state’s pragmatic approach to dealing with the after-effects of the pandemic.
“Singapore as a market has always been on our radar, but due to the pandemic, we wanted to wait and watch as to when we should make a move. Weave Living’s goal is to be in all major gateway cities in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Doshi said Weave Living would continue to expand in Hong Kong. “Our Hong Kong portfolio (of around 1,400 apartments) is fully occupied.”
Doshi, the former head of Asia-Pacific real estate with APG, founded the Weave Living business in 2017, and, in the following year, Warburg Pincus invested US$181m of growth capital in Weave, with an option to invest as much as US$413.5m.
The Clover Hotel, which is a row of heritage shophouses, will be repositioned as Weave Suites, Weave Living’s serviced apartment brand.
Clemence Lee, senior director of CBRE Singapore Capital Markets, who represented the vendor, a private investment entity, said the property is located in one of Singapore’s top tourist attractions and is a key historical district.
“We believe the high quality flexible rental accommodation product that Weave Living is creating at the property will complement and blend in seamlessly with the wide range of amenities in the area.”
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