Shanghai-based Shimao and Starwood Capital will own 51% and 49% of the new company, respectively. The companies didn’t disclose how much they will invest in the venture.
U.S. private investment firm Starwood Capital Group and Shimao Property Holdings will form a joint venture, collaborating on building, operating and branding hotels in China.
Shanghai-based Shimao and Starwood Capital will own 51% and 49% of the new company, respectively. The companies didn’t disclose how much they will invest in the venture.
Founded in 2009, Shimao, through its Shimao Hotels and Resorts division, oversees 20 hotels under the upper-upscale Yu, upscale MiniMax Premier and midscale MiniMax brands.
Starwood Capital will also provide strong financial and operational support for Shimao Hotels and Resorts' future hotel expansion plans in China and other key Asia-Pacific regions, according to a statement released by Starwood Capital Group.
The investment firm is perhaps best known for creating and building Starwood Hotels & Resorts into the largest hotel company in the world before exiting its stake in the company. CEO Barry Sternlicht notably founded the W Hotels lifestyle brand when he ran Starwood Hotels.
The JV follows other partnerships with Asian companies such as China Life insurance on select-service hotels in the United States, as well as with South Korea’s National Pension Service on a hotel fund focused on small- and medium-sized hotels in the outskirts of the U.S.