DoubleDragon ventures into hotel business

MANILA, Philippines - DoubleDragon is entering the hotel business with the purchase of 70 percent of Hotel of Asia Inc. (HOA) for P832.17 million.

The consideration of Injap Investments for its HOA shares will be paid in DoubleDragon shares priced at five percent premium over the 30-day weighted average of the closing prices of DD common shares preceding closing date of the transaction.

HOA will serve as DoubleDragon’s hospitality arm, the company said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

 “The stake in HOA will now allow DoubleDragon to benefit from the booming tourism prospects for the Philippines in the years to come as well as fully optimize the use and value of its string of prime properties in various strategic areas of the country,” said DoubleDragon president Edgar Injap Sia II.

“We believe that the hospitality industry will continue to be one of the fastest growing segments in the country and it is an ideal way for us to increase our leasable portfolio in line with our focus of creating recurring revenue backed by appreciating assets,” he added.

HOA is a joint venture among Injap’s Injap Investments Inc., Chan C. Bros. Holdings Inc. (CCBHI) of the Oishi Group and Staniel Realty Development Corp.

Upon closing of the transaction, Injap Investments will be fully divesting its interests in HOA and consolidating it in DoubleDragon while CCBHI and Staniel will retain 15 percent each.

“The consolidation of HOA into DoubleDragon will further intensify my focus in steering DoubleDragon through its hyper growth years. Since a few years back, I have been very optimistic about the high growth potential of the Philippine property sector related to consumer and tourism.

Despite the very challenging journey of being a new player competing in a traditional and mature industry, which for many decades has been dominated by established large players, the whole DoubleDragon team will continue to work hard and keep its sheer determination and intense passion in driving DoubleDragon to break-through and become one of the largest and strongest property companies in the Philippines and create a lasting and positive impact to all stakeholders,” Injap said.

The Jinjiang Inn brand is from Jin Jiang Hotels, the largest hospitality conglomerate from China, and the fifth largest in the world.  It operates more than 6,000 hotels with more than 650,000 guest rooms in 60 countries across a wide range of full-service and select-service hotels.