Singapore investor buys Hilton Sydney

Singapore investor buys Hilton SydneySingapore-based Bright Ruby Resources has acquired the five-star Hilton Sydney on George Street for $442 million.Hilton Worldwide’s chief executive Christopher Nassetta says the company has taken advantage of “attractive pricing” to sell the hotel in a “tax-efficient manner”. Hilton will continue to manage the property, subject to a -year management agreement. This latest sale follows Hilton’s recent divestment of New York’s Waldorf-Astoria to China’s Anbang Insurance Group for almost A$2.5 billion. Proceeds from the sale of Hilton Sydney are expected to reduce long-term debt.The transaction is the largest in Australia for the year, and was brokered by JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group chief executive for Australasia, Craig Collins.”This significant transaction reinforces the unprecedented demand for prime hotel assets across Australia’s key markets,” Collins says.The hotel features 579 guest rooms, 23 meeting rooms, 4000 sqm of food and beverage space and a 25-metre indoor pool. In 2013, Bright Ruby paid nearly $1 billion for the Grand Park Orchard Hotel in Singapore, and nearly $300 million for the office towers at 10 Barrack Street and 231 Elizabeth Street in Sydney.According to Collins, the Sydney hotel investment market “continues to go from strength to strength”. JLL has finalised more than $1.45 billion of hotel sales in the Sydney CBD in the past 22 months, including the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, Sheraton on the Park Sydney and the Hilton Sydney.