The Ascott Limited is a Singaporean real estate and lodging company and a subsidiary of

CapitaLand CapitaLand Group Pte. Ltd. is a Singaporean headquartered company focusing on investment, development and management of real estate. The company has a presence in over 260 cities across more than 40 countries. CapitaLand has six listed real ...

History

Founding years (1984–2000)

On 14 August 1984, Scotts Holdings opened The Ascott Singapore, the first international-class serviced residence in the Asia Pacific region. The name “Ascott” was coined by Ameerali Jumabhoy to represent Scotts Road in Singapore (where the first property was located at) and a nod to the famed British races at Ascot, due to the family's association with equestrian sports. Scotts Holdings eventually merged with Stamford Group, the serviced residence arm of DBS Land, to form The Ascott Limited (hereinafter referred to as “Ascott”), creating a joint portfolio of more than 1,700 units in eight cities. In 1998, Pidemco Land set up its first serviced residence arm, Somerset International, and acquired Liang Court Holdings, then one of Asia's largest serviced residence operators, to form Somerset Holdings. Ascott and Somerset Holdings merged in 2000, leading to a total portfolio of 6,000 serviced residences across 10 countries following the merger of DBS Land and Pidemco Land to form CapitaLand Limited. Ascott would later become a wholly owned subsidiary of the CapitaLand Limited on 28 April 2008. Ascott is presently the wholly owned lodging arm of CapitaLand Investment following a strategic restructuring of CapitaLand Limited and listing of CapitaLand Investment on 20 September 2021.

Growth and expansion (2000–present)

In 2003, Ascott acquired a 50% interest for EUR84.2 million (SGD47.5 million) in Citadines, a pan-European serviced residence chain with properties across

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the UK,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, thereby increasing its overall portfolio to 13,500 serviced units in 37 cities across 16 countries. By 2004, Citadines was acquired fully for an additional EUR74.3 million (SGD154.2 million) by Ascott, which by then owned three brands: Ascott The Residence, Citadines and Somerset. In 2014, Ascott entered a strategic partnership with Quest Apartment Hotels (hereinafter referred to as “Quest”), then the largest serviced apartment provider with 112 properties in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, by acquiring 20% stake in the company for AUD28.8 million (SGD32.3 million). In 2017, Ascott increased its stake in Quest to a majority share of 80% for AUD180 million (SGD191 million), propelling it to become the largest serviced residence provider in Australasia, with 11,000 units in 180 properties located across cities in Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. In 2016, Ascott launched its new co-living brand, Lyf, which develops upscale communal accommodation for young travellers, in order to accommodate

millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s a ...

who continue to rapidly enter the work force and are becoming the focal point of economic innovation. Lyf develops

co-living Co-living is a residential community living model that accommodates three or more biologically unrelated people living in the same dwelling unit. Coliving has seen a noticeable increase in popularity in recent years globally, concentrated in area ...

spaces that provide upscale communal accommodation for young travellers. New signings for Lyf were acquired for properties in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, Australia,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

. To date, Lyf has since debuted in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. In 2017, Ascott acquired an 80% majority stake for USD33.7m (SGD46.7m) in Synergy Global Housing, a US-based corporate accommodation company that has a strong foothold in the United States, particularly with corporations and high-tech powerhouses based in Silicon Valley. With this acquisition, Ascott tripled its portfolio in the USA to approximately 3,000 units. In 2018, Ascott acquired a 70% majority stake for USD25.9 million (SGD35.4 million) in Indonesia's Green Oak Hotel Management (GOHM), the holding company of TAUZIA Hotels (hereinafter referred to as “TAUZIA”), one of Indonesia's top five hotel operators. At the time of acquisition, TAUZIA operated close to 20,000 units in 122 hotels across

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, Malaysia and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. The acquisition was a strategic move by Ascott to access the rapidly expanding middle-class business hotel segment, with about 70% of TAUZIA's hotels catering to business and convention travellers and the remainder to leisure travellers. In 2022, Ascott acquired serviced apartment brand, Oakwood, from Mapletree Investments. The purchase consideration was not disclosed, and the transaction added some 81 properties and about 15,000 units to Ascott’s global portfolio.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ascott Limited 1984 establishments in Singapore CapitaLand Hospitality companies Hospitality companies of Singapore Hotel chains in Singapore Hotels established in 1984 Real estate companies of Singapore Singaporean brands Singaporean companies established in 1984