A Taiwanese hospitality giant has made its debut in the UK with the £185m purchase of the four-star St Ermin’s hotel.
Sunrider Group has bought the 331-bedroom property at 2 Caxton Street, SW1, from Angelo Gordon, Gracemark and Amerimar Enterprises.
The deal represents one of the first purchases of an existing hotel investment by an Asian investor. They have traditionally preferred development sites, with high-profile deals including Dalian Wanda’s purchase of the £700m One Nine Elms on the South Bank, which includes a luxury hotel, Singaporean group UOL’s acquisition of Heron Plaza at Bishopsgate, EC2, where a Pan Pacific hotel is planned, and Chinese group Reignwood’s 10 Trinity Square, EC3, development, which is due to open as a Four Seasons next year.
Gerard Nolan, partner at hotel specialist Gerard Nolan, said: “Asia Pacific investors particularly like five-star brands and are very orientated towards the best. They see the drive that there is in the London market, and decide to come to London first when they are successful and want to go global. A year from now we can expect to see much more of this investment in London.”
According to Savills, Asian investment in UK hotels could reach £500m this year, making the region a significant player in the market.
While Sunrider operates hotels across Taiwan and China under its Sunworld brand, St Ermin’s is expected to remain under operator Marriott’s Autograph brand.
Angelo Gordon bought St Ermin’s for £65m in 2010 and later spent £37m upgrading it. It explored a sale of the property through JLL in 2012 before putting it on hold.
CBRE advised this time.
