Australia’s Salter Brothers Forms Japan Hotel Partnership With Tokyo Century

A partnership formed by Melbourne-based Salter Brothers and a Japanese property firm has seen the Australian fund manager take over asset management for a five-star resort in the southern island of Kyushu.

Hospitality-focused Salter Brothers joined forces with Tokyo Century Group, the developer of ANA InterContinental Beppu Resort and Spa, on the newly launched strategic partnership, according to a Wednesday announcement.

The Aussie firm has assumed asset management duties for the 89-room luxury resort, which opened in 2019 and has been managed by Tokyo Century and IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan since that time. Salter Brothers said it aims to bring to the Japanese market its experience in refurbishing, rebranding and repositioning existing assets with international operators.

“Salter Brothers is proud to be working with Tokyo Century in this new and exciting venture, partnering on hospitality opportunities in the Japanese market,” said managing director Paul Salter. “In Japan, we are strongly focused on working with best-in-class ownership and management to unlock operational value-add, leveraging our pan-Asia hospitality investment experience and relationships with operating partners.”

Global Platform

Salter Brothers previously made headlines when it teamed up with Singapore sovereign fund GIC and Swiss private equity firm Partners Group to acquire a portfolio of 11 Travelodge hotels in Australia with a gross asset value of A$620 million ($457 million).

That 2021 deal, said to be the largest of its kind ever transacted in Australia, involved more than 2,000 rooms in key cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The sellers were real estate group Mirvac and travel association NRMA.

Salter Brothers formed in 2015 and now owns and manages a portfolio of more than 5,000 rooms across 41 hotels in Australia, Asia and the US. Tokyo Century is the platform’s first Japanese partner in an asset management agreement.

“Partnering with Salter Brothers brings together exceptional capital, reach and operational capability, providing our partnership a competitive advantage in this market,” said Tokyo Century deputy president and executive officer Yoichiro Nakai.

Tall Order at Torch Tower

TSE-listed Tokyo Century’s biggest shareholders include conglomerate Itochu Corp, real estate firm Chuo-Nittochi and telecom giant NTT.

The group has managed Hotel Indigo Karuizawa in Nagano since 2022 with IHG Japan Management and is co-developing a luxury hotel within Torch Tower — the skyscraper under construction near Tokyo Station that is set to become the tallest building in Japan — alongside property giant Mitsubishi Estate.

Located on the upper floors of the 63-storey Torch Tower, the hotel will open in 2028 as the first in Asia Pacific to be operated by Brunei-owned luxury brand Dorchester Collection, Tokyo Century said Wednesday in a separate announcement.

Best known as an equipment leaser, Tokyo Century joined Mitsubishi Estate in a venture to build data centres in the Washington DC area and has also invested in NTT’s India data centre business.