The Ascott Ltd, a wholly-owned serviced apartment unit of CapitaLand, one of Asia's largest real estate companies, said yesterday in Shanghai that it plans to expand its global portfolio to around 40,000 apartments from the current 26,000 by 2015.
The Singapore-based company, the world's largest serviced residence owner and operator, has 29 properties, more than 5,500 rooms, in China under three brands - Ascott, Somerset and Citadines. It has also secured four new management contracts in the country, all under the premier Ascott brand.
The four properties, located in Guangzhou, Suzhou, Ningbo and Hangzhou and scheduled to open between 2011 and 2015, will therefore take the company's China portfolio to 33 properties with more than 6,000 rooms.
"A larger global portfolio will allow us to further upgrade our people and systems," said Lim Ming Yan, Ascott chief executive. "In particular, we aim to extend Ascott's dominance in key cities in Asia Pacific and Europe through investments and management contracts."
China, Vietnam, Singapore and India will remain its key growth markets in Asia.
