Savills and Alternaty to create best in class hotel advisory service line in Vietnam and South East Asia

SAVILLS AND ALTERNATY TO CREATE BEST IN CLASS HOTEL ADVISORY SERVICE LINE IN VIETNAM AND SOUTH EAST ASIA.

March 2017 - Savills is pleased to announce a merger with Alternaty, a leading Hotel Advisory in Indochina. The merger highlights Savills' commitment to accelerate growth in the Asia Pacific and particularly South East Asia.

The Alternaty team will join the well-established hotel business at Savills to focus on providing best in class hotel Advisory services for owners and developers. Savills Hotel Asia Pacific, which is led by Raymond Clement, Managing Director, based in Singapore, consists of individuals who have strong track record and experience across the tourism and hospitality sector: Mauro Gasparotti and Rudolf Hever, Founding Partners of Alternaty, will both take the role of Director, Hotels, Savills Asia Pacific, reporting in to Raymond Clement, driving business in Vietnam and South East Asia. This dedicated Hotel Advisory team will be based in Savills Ho Chi Minh City office, delivering the strongest Hospitality and Advisory team in the Region.

The merger will give Savills a platform to tap into Indochina's rapidly growing hospitality markets, with Vietnam itself seeing a 26% increase in foreign arrivals in 2016. With a growing number of investors actively seeking hotel and resort assets, this will complement Savills' already substantial investment brokerage platform.

The Hotel Advisory Services in Vietnam will include relevant hotel related services as:

• Hotel & Resort Market Research
• Feasibility Studies
• Operator Selection & Hotel Management Contract Negotiation
• Asset Management
• Investment Brokerage & Advisory Service

Mauro Gasparotti, Director of Hotels, Savills Asia Pacific, commented: “We are delighted to become part of the Savills family and to leverage Savills’ extensive operation, sales and marketing platform in the region. This merger enables us to further our best practices into untapped opportunities in South East Asia.”

“Vietnamese hotel industry is becoming more dynamic as more players enter this growing market with the number of five-star hotel rooms in 2015 soaring by 37% year-on-year to reach 24,000. This growing trend in hotel development can be seen across all hotel segments with an estimated 15%-20% growth in total hotel supply in the short term. Besides the key cities of HCMC and Hanoi, markets such as Phu Quoc, Danang and Nha Trang are catching investor attention too. Total hotel transaction volume reached almost $500 million in the last 24 months”. Rudolf Hever, Director of Hotels, Savills Asia Pacific said.

Neil MacGregor, Managing Director, Savills Vietnam, shared “The Alternaty team, led by Mauro and Rudolf, are well known as market leaders in Hospitality in the IndoChina. Their capabilities will add depth to establish a robust platform, offering a complete suite of services for the hotel development lifecycle. Our ability to offer best in class hotel consultancy will expand our capability and boost other Savills Vietnam business lines, including project management, investment advisory, research & valuation and agency businesses.”

Founded in 2012, Alternaty is known as the first and only local based hotel consultancy in Vietnam, with strong local knowledge, contacts, and extensive track record in commercial property, hotel and resort advisory throughout the IndoChina region.

With a high profile, this award winning boutique real estate consultancy has played key advisory roles to major hospitality companies around the region.

The Savills Hotels team, well placed in the Asia Pacific, is capable of putting forward unique asset realisation strategies and disposition services, as well as specific management and consultancy services. In the past 24 months, Savills Hotels sold US$2.1b worth of hotel assets in Asia Pacific. Most recently, it has led the sale of the Anantara Ubud Bali, the Duxton Hotel Saigon and the Hyatt Regency Osaka.