ADIA Sells Sydney Novotel, Ibis Hotels to Wentworth, SHK & Co for $274M

One of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds has sold a pair of Sydney hotels for A$390 million ($274 million) to a local fund manager and its Hong Kong-based partner, as growth in visitor arrivals to Australia’s top gateway city is expected to boost the hospitality sector. 

Sydney-based Wentworth Capital and Sun Hung Kai & Company have purchased the Novotel Sydney Darling Harbour and the contiguous Ibis Sydney Darling Harbour from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Wentworth representatives told Mingtiandi on Wednesday, giving the partners a total of 781 rooms in the popular tourist area.

With Sun Hung Kai & Co (which is not directly related to Hong Kong developer Sun Hung Kai Properties) having acquired a minority stake in Wentworth in January last year, representatives of the company characterised the hotel investment as furthering the relationship with Wentworth, while leveraging the Australian hospitality resources of the Hong Kong investment firm’s Malaysian affiliate, Mulpha Group.

“This transaction deepens our strategic partnership with Wentworth and, together with our related company Mulpha, combines SHK & Co’s substantial, scalable capital and global alternatives network with Mulpha’s proven hotel ownership and operational expertise,” Sun Hung Kai & Co deputy chief executive Tony Edwards told Mingtiandi by email.  

Value-Add Play

ADIA had acquired the Novotel and Ibis hotels as part of a 2013 purchase of a portfolio of 31 Accor-managed properties from Sydney-based Tourism Asset Holdings Limited for a price reported at the time to be around A$800 million. The sovereign fund had put the two hotels on the market in 2021 at a target price of around A$500 million, according to reporting at the time by the Australian Financial Review.

The deal comes as CBRE predicts that an increase in international flights into Sydney will boost demand for hotel accommodation in the city by 542,000 room nights this year, which represents an increase of approximately 3 percent from 2025. Figures from index provider MSCI show that trades of income-earning hotel properties across Australia rose by 49 percent last year, compared to 2025, while the overall market jumped by 57 percent year-on-year.

The 525-room Novotel was completed in 1991, with its 256-room Ibis neighbour finished four years later. The properties occupy a 1.5 hectare (3.7 acre) site on Sydney’s Pyrmont Peninsula which sits one block inland from a A$2 billion residential development by Mirvac and Mitsubishi Estate which will add 260 luxury homes to the Darling Harbour area when it is completed in late 2027. 

The hotels are currently operating at approximately 88 percent occupancy, according to Wentworth representatives, with the transaction taking place at an acquisition yield of 6.0 percent. The partners are paying the equivalent of A$499,360 per room for the two properties. 

Wentworth and its partner expect to invest further in the two properties, including refurbishment of the existing properties. The transaction also includes vacant land to the south of the Novotel that may have future development potential which the new owners said they expect to explore.

With Sun Hung Kai & Co chairman Lee Seng Huang also controlling Kuala Lumpur-based Mulpha Group, the Malaysian firm has built a portfolio of six major hotels in Australia and New Zealand, including the Intercontinental Sydney and the Intercontinental Hayman Greater Barrier Reef, with the partners planning to leverage that experience for the Darling Harbour investment.

“Our collective experience in hospitality investment — including Mulpha’s Australian portfolio — enhances both firms’ ability to capitalise on attractive opportunities across Australian real assets and private credit markets,” Sun Hung Kai & Co’s Edwards said. “We look forward to continuing to work with Wentworth to grow high-quality hospitality assets domestically and internationally.”

New Fund in the Works

Established in 2019 as NashCap by former Blackstone executive Alastair Nash, together with Mirvac veterans Fabian Nager and Paul Apostoles, as well as ex-McKinsey consultant Brad Bowton, Wentworth took on its current name in December of 2022.

The company closed on A$350 million in capital for its Wentworth Real Estate Private Equity Fund I in the second half of 2025, with the vehicle set up to invest across office, residential, industrial, life sciences, and hospitality assets. 

Targeting off-market opportunities, Wentworth has now deployed 80 percent of the capital from the fund, and it is understood to be exploring the launch of a second vehicle toward the end of the year. With the Darlling Harbour hotel deal, Wentworth has now deployed over A$1 billion in equity via co-investment. 

“This acquisition reflects the type of opportunity this fund was established to pursue — a well-located, institutional-quality asset at a compelling entry point with multiple value-add levers. While not part of the base case business plan, the site’s scale and location present longer-term development potential,” a Wentworth representative told Mingtiandi.

According to statements by Sun Hung Kai & Co, the company agreed to take a minority stake in Wentworth in January of last year, at the same time that it committed $100 million for a cornerstone stake in Wentworth’s Australian real estate private credit strategy. The two companies are understood to have since expanded that cooperation.