Jump to content

The Ascott Limited

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Farah3396 (talk | contribs) at 07:49, 17 August 2011 (→‎Photo Gallery). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Ascott Limited
Company typePrivately held
IndustryHospitality
Founded1984
HeadquartersSingapore
Number of locations
Over 70 cities
Key people
Lim Ming Yan, CEO [1]
Number of employees
5,000[2]
WebsiteThe Ascott Limited

The Ascott Limited is the world's largest international serviced residence owner-operator with over 22,000 operating serviced residence units in key cities of Asia Pacific, Europe and the Gulf region, as well as about 6,000 units which are under development, making a total of more than 28,000 units.[3] Its portfolio spans over 70 cities across 20 countries.

The Ascott Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Limited, one of Asia's largest real estate companies. The Ascott was delisted from the Singapore Exchange in 2008 after a compulsory acquisition.[4] Some of the reasons cited were; "Accelerated growth in key areas by tapping on CapitaLand's more established real estate development and financial services capability" and "Greater cost savings through sharing of services and resources".

History

The past two decades saw merger and acquisition activities involving real estate and hospitality players in Singapore like Scotts Holdings, Pidemco Land, Somerset International, Liang Court, Stamford Group and DBS Land. These developments eventually led to the establishment of The Ascott Limited, the largest serviced residence owner-operator outside the United States, with a global presence spanning over 60 cities around the world.[5] In 2006, the company established the world's first pan-Asian serviced residence real estate investment trust, the Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott REIT). Then in 2009, The Ascott Group Limited celebrated 25 successful years as the top international serviced residence owner-operator.[6]

Establishment

The Scotts Holdings, a well-known Singapore corporation with business interests in serviced apartments, shopping centres and property investments, opened Asia Pacific's first international-class serviced residence—The Ascott Singapore on 14 August 1984.[7] Scotts Holdings was listed in 1991.

In 1998, Pidemco Land* set up Somerset International, its new serviced residence arm. It acquired Liang Court Holdings, one of Asia's largest serviced residence operators, to form Somerset Holdings. Together, these two companies had a combined portfolio of 3,200 serviced residence units in 15 cities.

Scotts Holdings merged with Stamford Group,[8] the serviced residence arm of DBS Land* to form The Ascott Limited, creating a joint portfolio of more than 1,700 units in eight cities.

Citadines merged with Orion, and Whitehall and Westmont later sold its tourist-oriented Orion serviced residences to focus on its business clientele.

In 2001, The Ascott Limited was listed following the merger of Somerset Holdings and The Ascott Limited in 2000. In the following year, Ascott acquired a 50 percent stake in Citadines, which made it the largest international serviced residence operator outside the US.

In 2002, it acquired the remaining 50 percent interest in Citadines.[9] The company now owns the three brands: Ascott, Somerset and Citadines.

Ascott Residence Trust

The first Pan-Asian serviced residence REIT, the Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott REIT), was established and listed on 31 March 2006 in Singapore.[10] The Ascott Residence Trust has a combined portfolio of S$1.53 billion[11] as at 1 April 2009, comprising 38 serviced residences and rental housing properties across seven countries.[12] For the period 1 January to 31 March 2010, Ascott REIT achieved a revenue of S$43.5 million and gross profit of S$20.1 million.[13]

Brands

Ascott The Residence

File:Singapore Ascott Raffles Place.jpg
Ascott Raffles Place Singapore formerly a heritage building restored from its 1950 splendour, is an exclusive residence located in the CBD area.

Located in the prime business districts in key cities across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Gulf region, Ascott The Residence provides luxurious and exclusive serviced residences for business travellers and leisure guests. Some of the notable properties are Ascott Sathorn Bangkok, Ascott Kuala Lumpur, and Ascott Guangzhou, which came in top 3 for Serviced Residences in the Asia-Pacific region.[14]

Ascott The Residence provides a wide range of serviced residence type ranging from studio to three-bedroom apartments. Extensive business support services, meeting and recreational facilities can be found within most residences. Most of the properties are located in the heart of Central Business Districts(CBDs).

File:Citadines London Holborn Covent Garden.jpg
Citadines Holborn-Covent Garden London

Citadines Apart'Hotel

Citadines Apart'hotels offer travellers with greater flexibility of services compared to the other two brands. The residence units are urban and trendy in design. Many of its residences can be found in Europe. The apart'hotels offer travellers with greater flexibility by allowing guests to choose only the services they require and are mainly located within convenient access to subways and skytrains in metropolitan cities. Most of its apart'hotels can be found in Europe like Belgium, France, Georgia, Germany, Spain and United Kingdom. Citadines offer apartment types ranging from studio to two-bedroom with multi-functional living room and fully-equipped kitchen.

Somerset Ampang Kuala Lumpur

Somerset Serviced Residence

Somerset serviced residences are located mainly at the fringe of cities across the globe. With close proximity to the heart of cities, these residences are well suited for executives or even families on vacations. They also provide various gatherings and activities[15] for guests from time to time to help them get settled down.

Most apartments include fully-equipped kitchens, separate dining areas and spacious living areas to modern and business services. Its residence type ranges from studios to large three bedroom units.

Awards and Accolades

  • Best Serviced Residence Brand (Business Traveller Asia Pacific Awards 2004-2010[20][21][22][23])
  • Best Serviced Residence Company (Business Traveller UK Awards 2007-2010[24][25][26][27])
  • Best Serviced Residence Brand in China (Business Traveller China 2005-2010[28][29][30][31])
  • Best Serviced Residence in Asia Pacific (DestinAsian Readers Choice Awards 2008-2011[32][33][34][35])

Membership

The Ascott Limited introduced its membership schemes for all of its 3 brands. This free online membership allows members to receive exclusive privileges like special member rates and member promotions. In addition, members receive promotional offers through the regular newsletters across the year.

List of Countries

The Ascott has properties in the following countries:

Asia Pacific

Europe

Gulf Region

References

  1. ^ "The Ascott Limited Management Structure".
  2. ^ "The Ascott limited Corporate profile".
  3. ^ "The Ascott Limited Corporate Profile". theascottlimited.com.
  4. ^ "CapitaLand completes compulsory acquisition of Ascott". CapitaLand Investors News Release. April 28, 2008. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  5. ^ "Ascott International Management". JobStreet.com.
  6. ^ "Ascott Marks 25th Anniversary with over 25 Community Initiatives Worldwide". investor.capitaland.com.
  7. ^ "The Ascott Limited, History".
  8. ^ "Moving Image and Sound Archives Singapore". National Archives of Singapore. July 5, 1999.
  9. ^ "Ascott buys rest of Citadines to become global apart-hotel player". caterersearch.com. June 3, 2004.
  10. ^ "Ascott may float Malaysian assets". Malaysia Property News. August 9, 2008.
  11. ^ "Ascott Residence Trust".
  12. ^ "Ascott Reit's Quality Portfolio Produces Another Award-Winning Property". Ascott Residence Trust.
  13. ^ "Ascott Reit achieves S$10.3 million unitholder's distribution for 1Q 2010".
  14. ^ "Business Traveller rewards travel industry champions". Business Traveller Asia.
  15. ^ "Ascott to open two serviced residences inChina this month". PR Newswire. August 1, 2008.
  16. ^ "New Top Wins At 16th Awards". TTG Asia.
  17. ^ "19th TTG Travel awards 2008". ForImmediateRelease.Net.
  18. ^ "20th TTG Travel Awards 2009". Xenios.
  19. ^ "21st TTG Travel Awards 2010". TTGAsia.
  20. ^ "2007 Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards". Business Traveller.com.
  21. ^ "2008 Business Traveller Asia Pacific Awards". Business Traveller.com.
  22. ^ "2009 Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards". Business Traveller.com.
  23. ^ "2010 Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards". Business Traveller.com.
  24. ^ "The Business Traveller Awards 2007". Business Traveller.com.
  25. ^ "The Business traveller Awards 2008". Business Traveller.com.
  26. ^ "The Business Traveller Awards 2009". Business Traveller.com.
  27. ^ "The Business Traveller Awards 2010". Business Traveller.com.
  28. ^ "BT 2006 China Travel awards - Business Traveller". Business Traveller.com.
  29. ^ "2008 Business Traveller China Awards". Business Traveller.com.
  30. ^ "2009 Business Traveller China Awards". Business Traveller.com.
  31. ^ "2010 Business Traveller China Awards". Business Traveller.com.
  32. ^ "2008 READERS' CHOICE AWARDS". Destin Asian.
  33. ^ "Readers' Choice Awards again highlight Asia's best". Destin Asian.
  34. ^ "2010 Readers' Choice Awards". Destin Asian.
  35. ^ "2011 Readers' Awards". DestinAsian.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Ascott_Limited&oldid=445293420"