ANA Japan Hotel Portfolio named Merger & Acquisition Deal of the Year

The Merger & Acquisition Deal of the Year and the Reggie Shiu Development of the Year award winners were announced at last week's 18th annual Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP), which drew a record, sold-out crowd of over 800 delegates to the InterContinental Hong Kong.

ANA Japan Hotel Portfolio was named the Merger & Acquisition Deal of the Year. Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund (MSREF) acquired ANA Japan from All Nippon Airways in a deal valued at US$2.36 billion. The deal was the largest regional hotel transaction on record and the largest-ever property transaction in Japan and followed on the heels of the establishment of the joint venture of IHG with ANA Hotels and Resorts to form IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan. Nominees in this category included Kingdom Hotel Investment's acquisition of the Four Seasons Resort Langkawi from Malaysia Airlines, and the acquisition of Taisei Corporation's Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund (MSREF).

The Venetian Macau was selected as the Reggie Shiu Development of the Year. Developed by Las Vegas Sands, and constructed at a cost of US$2.4 billion, The Venetian Macau is one of the largest buildings in Asia and the new focal point of Macau. The hotel opened in August 2007. Nominees in this category included the Ritz Carlton, Tokyo, developed by Mitsui Fudosan Consortium, and the W Maldives Retreat & Spa, developed by Universal Enterprises/Starwood Hotels and Resorts (AJV).

Nominees in the Merger & Acquisition and Reggie Shiu Development of the Year categories were chosen by a special committee comprised of senior level hotel industry leaders, and the winners were selected by a vote of the HICAP delegates.

The first Sustainable Hotels Awards also were presented at HICAP. Winners included Nihiwatu Resort, Sumba Island, Indonesia in the Site Selection, Operational Aspects and Leveraging Influence categories; Soneva Gili and Six Senses Spa, Lankan Fushi, Maldives in the Leveraging Influence category; and Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa, Queensland, Australia in the Operational Aspects category. Winners were voted on by a distinguished expert panel of judges from around the world.

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