CDL Sells Millennium Hilton Seoul for US $892m, to Become Offices

Main Photo: The Millennium Hilton Seoul

Date: May 2021

Location: Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Name: Millennium Hilton Seoul

No. of Keys: 700

Seller: CDL Hotels Korea, a Korean branch of the Singapore-based investment company City Developments Limited. The hotel was previously owned by Daewoo Group before it went bankrupt during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and 1998. CDL acquired the hotel for 260 billion won, around US$233m in 1999.

Buyer: The five-star hotel in central Seoul, will be sold to Igis Asset Management for around a trillion won ($892 million), according to multiple local media reports on Tuesday.

Igis plans to turn the hotel into an office building. The asset management company refused to confirm or deny the story. CDL Hotels Korea could not be reached for comment.

Millennium Hilton Seoul is operated by the global Hilton hotel franchise, and the land and buildings are owned by CDL Hotels Korea. The falling profitability of the hotel business is said to be the reason behind the decision.

The hotel business is among those industries hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Sheraton Palace Hotel in Gangnam, southern Seoul, was sold to a consortium led by the Land, a real estate developer, for 350 billion won last year.

The Millennium Hilton Seoul is a 22-storied hotel with 700 rooms.

Price: US$892m

Price per Key: US$1,274

THPT Comment: Hotel to offices…don’t hear much of that happening these days. Good return for CDL over 20 years.

First Seen: Korea JoongAng Daily

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