Mingtiandi

Asia Pacific real estate investment news and information

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Remember Me

Lost your password?

Register Now

Loading...
  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • Mingtiandi 2025 Event Calendar
    • Mingtiandi APAC Residential Forum 2025
    • Mingtiandi Singapore Forum 2025
    • Mingtiandi APAC Logistics Forum 2025
    • Mingtiandi APAC Data Centre Forum 2025
    • Mingtiandi Tokyo Forum 2025
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
    • Residential
    • Logistics
    • Data Centre
    • Office
    • Singapore
    • Tokyo
    • Hong Kong
    • All Videos
    • Post-Event Stories
  • People
    • Industry Moves
    • MTD TV Speakers
  • Logistics
  • Data Centres
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

Hong Kong’s AB Capital Teams Up with Kenedix to Buy Japanese Resort

2025/03/31 by Michael Cole Leave a Comment

Urakusatsu Tou

Urakusatsu Tou underwent extensive renovation in 2022 (Image: Rakuten)

Fund manager AB Capital has expanded its portfolio of Japanese hospitality properties, teaming up with a local player to acquire a hot spring resort near Nagano for an undisclosed sum.

Hong Kong-based AB partnered with Kenedix, an asset management unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing, to acquire Urakusatsu Tou, a modern Japanese Ryokan inn at the onsen hot spring hub of Kusatsu in Gunma prefecture.

The deal marks AB’s ninth Japanese hotel acquisition, with the property adding to the portfolio held under the private equity firm’s AB Capital Fund II vehicle, according to a statement.

“Urakusatsu Tou represents a quintessential AB Capital investment – rare, resilient, and ripe with upside,” AB Capital managing partner Kusumine Enami said. “Kusatsu’s status as a cultural icon, combined with this asset’s modern infrastructure and operational performance, aligns perfectly with our strategy to deliver exceptional risk-adjusted returns through curated hospitality investments.”

Modern Springs

Located within a five-minute walk of Kusatsu bus terminal, which serves as the resort area’s primary transport hub, Urakusatsu Tou has 56 keys and an average room size of 34.7 square metres (374 square feet). Financial details of the acquisition were not provided.

Kusumine Enami

Kusumine Enami of AB Capital

The property underwent a comprehensive renovation in 2022, including upgrades to its mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, according to AB, and has direct access to Kusatsu’s Jizo Hot Spring.

Consistently ranked as Japan’s top onsen destination by local media, Kusatsu attracted 3.9 million visitors in 2024, representing a 20 percent increase from 2019. During last year guest nights in the resort destination exceeded pre-Covid levels by 18 percent, according to AB.

“As the asset manager for AB Capital, Kenedix is proud to be able to support the acquisition of Urakusatsu Tou, a sophisticated modern ryokan in the center of Kusatsu Onsen,” said Takaaki Shoji, a senior manager with Kenedix Investment Partners. “We leveraged our deep market expertise and accumulated know-how to provide opportunities to invest in highly scarce assets in the increasingly competitive Japanese real estate market.”

The onsen acquisition, which is expected to close on Tuesday, follows AB’s November buy of a 219-key hotel near Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

Hotels Stay Hot

The hot spring buy comes as hotels continue to rank among the most sought-after assets in Japan’s real estate market.

CapitaLand Ascott Trust said two months ago that it had acquired a pair of Japanese hotels for JPY 21 billion ($140 million), adding more than 600 rooms to its hospitality holdings in the country.

Just a few days before that deal was announced, Japan Hotel REIT, a Tokyo-listed trust managed by Singapore’s SC Capital, said it was acquiring the Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk hotel from Mizuho Leasing for JPY 64.4 billion.

During December, Blackstone announced a pair of Japan hotel acquisitions, adding three more hospitality properties to its Japan holdings, including a budget hostelry in Osaka, and a pair of resort properties in Okinawa.

Share this now

  • LinkedIn
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Filed Under: Finance Tagged With: AB Capital, Hotels, Japan, Kenedix, weekly-sp

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get Mingtiandi Delivered

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

MTD TV

Alessandro Fiascaris Oxford Properties
Oxford, Ivanhoe, Savills, PropertyGuru Predict APAC Buying Opportunities at Singapore Forum
Warburg Pincus, Princeton Digital Foretell Asia’s Data Centre Future

More MTD TV Videos>>

People in the News

LIu Anlin China Life
Asia Real Estate People in the News 2025-10-20
Peter Blade JLL
Sacked Aussie Execs Launch Wrongful Termination Proceedings Against JLL
Xin Jie
China Vanke Announces Chairman Switch Following Detention Reports
Ken Marron FLOW
Asia Real Estate People in the News 2025-10-13

More Industry Professionals>>

Latest Stories

LIu Anlin China Life
Asia Real Estate People in the News 2025-10-20
Jack Ma (Getty Images)
Alibaba, Ant Buying Top Half of Mandarin Oriental Causeway Bay Tower for $925M
Patricia Goh of CapitaLand Investment
CapitaLand Investment’s Extra Space Asia Spending $77M to Grow in Singapore, Tokyo

Sponsored Features

Otto Von Domingo, Vistra
APAC Real Estate Investors Adjust to More Active, Specialised Strategies: Vistra-APREA
Kathy Lee, Colliers
The Terrain has Shifted in Hong Kong’s Education Sector
Bernie Devine,
From Tools to Traction: Where Real Estate Tech is Heading in 2026

More Sponsored Features>>

Connect with Mingtiandi

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Real Estate News

  • Capital Markets
  • Mingtiandi 2025 Event Calendar
  • MTD TV Archives
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Data Centres
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail

More Mingtiandi

  • About Mingtiandi
  • Contact Mingtiandi
  • Mingtiandi Memberships
  • Newsletter Subscription
  • Advertise
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Join the Mingtiandi Team


© 2007-2025 China Advertising Media Ltd (Samoa). All rights reserved.

We use cookies in accordance with our Privacy policy to provide the best user experience on Mingtiandi and to safeguard user data. By continuing to browse you consent to the policy.