- Chip Eng Seng paid $15M in 2013 for the hotel.
- The property was valued at $14.7M in 2022.
- Acure paid $18M for the acquisition.
Prior to Christmas 2022, Acure Asset Management bought Mandurah’s Sebel Hotel from Chip Eng Seng for $18 million. The deal represents a $3.3 million windfall for the Singaporeans.
Into Aussie hands
Australian-owned Acure, based in Perth and Sydney, owns 16 commercial property syndicates, with a combined value of circa $485 million, including new Queensland acquisition Emerald Lakes Town Centre in Carrara, six kilometres west of Surfers Paradise.
Chip Eng Seng was recently taken over by Singaporean billionaires Celine and Gordon Tang. The Group had held Mandurah’s Sebel hotel since January 2013, when they bought it from Amcor Asia Pacific for $15 million ($178,571 per key) with a leaseback to Accor, who retained management of the 4.5-star hotel.
Chip Eng Seng’s Western Australian asset had depreciated since 2013 and was valued at $14.7 million in November 2022. CBRE agents Aaron Desange and Ryan McGinnity brokered a deal for the property with Acure for $18 million, or $214,286 per key – 18 per cent over the valuation.
New tourism hotspot
Less than an hour’s drive south of Perth, Mandurah was once a sleepy holiday town and fishing village but has now become a bustling tourism attraction with commercial assets in high demand.
In June 2021, ASX-listed co-work outfit WOTSO Property (ASX: WOT) paid $2 million – sight unseen – for the ex-Australian Sailing Museum in Mandurah, about a hundred metres from the hotel site.
The Sebel Mandurah occupies a 6717 square metre site at 1 Marco Polo Drive, opposite the picturesque Mandjar Bay, with panoramic views over inviting beaches, lakes and inlets. Accor Hotels still manages the seven-storey property, with 84 suites and a two level restaurant.
Tangs to complete Maldives acquisition
The Chip Eng Seng Group will now buy the remaining 30% of five-star Maldives resort, The Lagoon (also known as Samarafushi Lagoon) on the North Malé Atoll, from its joint venture partner, Tropical Developments Pte affiliate Amin Construction. Mr and Mrs Tang are paying $1.46m in cash for the stunning resort and will assume full responsibility for the $3m debt. The leasehold expires in 2066.
