Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (TSX:BAM) plans to buy two New Zealand hotels for $250 million, subject to Overseas Investment Office consent. Ruban Kaneshamoorthy, Brookfield's co-head of Australia real estate, said the company wanted to buy the 280-room Rydges Wellington and the 84-room Sofitel Queenstown. Brookfield saw significant potential to enhance the two hotels' performance, he said.

Last April, it entered a joint venture with Tainui Group Holdings to develop the Ruakura Logistics Intermodal Superhub in Hamilton. The vendor of the Wellington and Queenstown hotels is NZ Hotel Holdings, which last May said it wanted to sell seven hotels for $600 million-plus. The NZ Superannuation Fund, Russell Property Group and Lockwood Property Group wanted to quit their national hotel portfolio after the record-breaking $180 million InterContinental Auckland sale.

NZ Hotel Holdings chief executive Marcus Reinders cited Precinct Properties' planned sale of the hotel in One Queen to Singaporeans. NZ Hotel Holdings' seven hotels, with 1,402 rooms, are: 255-room Four Points by Sheraton Auckland, 150-room QT Auckland, 167-room Adina Apartment Hotel Auckland Britomart, 203-room Rydges Rotorua, 280-room Rydges Wellington, 263-room BreakFree on Cashel Christchurch, 84-room Sofitel Queenstown Hotel and Spa. When, in July 2019, the NZ Super Fund bought into what was then a $300 million portfolio, direct investments head Will Goodwin said it allowed exposure to the fast-growing tourism sector and would support the industry.

Brett Russell of Russell Group expressed satisfaction about plans to sell two of the seven to Brookfield and anticipated settlement this month. "We have interest in a couple of the others in the portfolio, too," Russell said this week of further deals on the remaining five hotels. Reinders said the Wellington and Queenstown hotels were exceptional assets in prime destinations.

Sofitel Queenstown's sale had achieved a record price per key in New Zealand. "We are confident the hotels will continue to perform strongly under Brookfield's ownership. The transaction reflects the quality of the assets NZ Hotel Holdings has developed and the continued investor interest in well-located hotel properties in New Zealand," he said.

CBRE Hotels' Michael Simpson, Peter Hamilton and Nick Hill brokered the planned sales.