Baring Private Equity Asia, which was acquired by Europe-based EQT in March, has entered into a deal to acquire the Sydney Hilton hotel for about $530 million.
The deal, which is subject to various conditions, will be the biggest hotel acquisition to date in Australia and indicates Baring anticipates a strong recovery for Australia’s tourism industry.
The previous largest Australian hotel purchase was the $463 million China’s Sunshine Insurance Group paid for the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney in 2014.
Baring’s acquisition can also be seen as an endorsement of KKR’s decision to acquire the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth hotel for $315 million in October, when the COVID-19 Omicron variant wave was still building.
The vendor of the Sydney Hilton is Chinese investment vehicle Bright Ruby which acquired the asset for $442 million in 2015.
Image: The George Street entrance to the Sydney Hilton hotel.