SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - UOL Group has sold Parkroyal Kitchener Hotel for $525 million to Midtown Properties, part of Worldwide Hotels Group. The chairman of Worldwide Hotels Group is Choo Chong Ngen, the founder of the Hotel 81 chain. His daughter, Carolyn Choo, is the group’s managing director and CEO.

The hotel, with 542 rooms, is held under UOL's hospitality unit Pan Pacific Hotels Group. Located along Kitchener Road, off Serangoon Road in Little India, the property is near Mustafa Centre and City Square Mall, which is linked to the Farrer Park MRT station on the Northeast Line.

JLL advised on the sale. According to JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group CEO for Asia Pacific Nihat Ercan, the Parkroyal Kitchener deal is the largest single-asset hotel transaction in Singapore and the second largest in the Asia Pacific region this year. "This deal underscores the enduring appeal of Singapore as a safe haven investment destination amidst global macroeconomic uncertainty and its status of one of the most attractive long-term hotel markets globally."

UOL currently holds the hotel at $83 million on its books. Upon completion of the sale, UOL will book a gain of $446.2 million.

According to a Jan 9 valuation by Jones Lang LaSalle Property Consultants, the hotel is valued at $423 million as at Dec 2022.

"The proposed disposal provides a good opportunity for the group to unlock the value of its investment in Parkroyal Kitchener Hotel at an attractive price and is part of the group's reconstitution of its overall property portfolio," says UOL on July 4.

UOL shares closed July 4 at $6.39, down 1.84%.

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