Singapore’s GIC Nears Deal for Stake in Four Oxford Fairmont Hotels, Canada

Main Photo: The Fairmont Banff Springs

Date: September 2019

Location: Whistler, British Columbia, and Lake Louise, Banff Springs and Jasper Park in Alberta, Canada

Name: All four branded Fairmont

No. of Keys: 2,200

Seller: Oxford Properties Group, the real estate arm of Canadian pension fund Omers, who is expected to retain a minority stake in the assets and manage the properties. Oxord’s other investments are mainly office buildings, including New York’s Hudson Yards and others in London, Paris & Berlin in Europe. The company is headed up by Michael Turner, President.

Buyer: Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, is nearing a deal to buy a majority stake in Oxford Properties Group’s Fairmont portfolio.

The talks are advanced and a deal could be announced in coming weeks. The exact price of the transaction couldn’t immediately be determined but any deal is expected to value the whole portfolio at about C$2 billion ($2.1 billion). Not yet a done-deal!

A representative for Toronto-based Oxford declined to comment. GIC didn’t immediately respond to an email request for comment outside Asian business hours. A representative for brokerage firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc, which is handling the sale, declined to comment.

Bloomberg reported in May that Oxford was planning to sell a 50% stake in its Fairmont hotels in Canada. The hotels draw 1.2 million guests a year, with roots dating to the dawn of the country’s train travel in the late 1800s, as Canadian Pacific Hotels.

Price: Around C$2bn

Price per Key: Around C$909,091

THPT Comment: A very healthy price for these iconic hotels. GIC expanding ever-further globally.

First Seen: The Edge Singapore

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