Seibu Holdings Inc. said Thursday it will sell 31 properties in Japan held by its subsidiary Prince Hotels Inc. to Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC for about ¥150 billion ($1.3 billion).
The assets to be sold include its flagship hotel, The Prince Park Tower Tokyo, as well as The Sapporo Prince Hotel and The Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima, in addition to ski resorts and golf courses.
Through what it calls "asset-lightening," Seibu, one of Japan's major railway and hotel operators, will try to turn around its business, which has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
"(GIC) is the best partner because it has a rich investment experience in Japan," Seibu Holdings President Takashi Goto said at a news conference.
The company said it will post a net profit of ¥9 billion for the business year ending March — a reversal from the ¥14 billion loss it had projected earlier.
Even after the sale, the hotel and leisure facilities will be operated by Seibu Prince Hotels Worldwide Inc., one of its subsidiaries.
Seibu's assets are located in "prime locations throughout Japan" and "are well-positioned to generate resilient returns," GIC's Chief Investment Officer of Real Estate Lee Kok Sun said in a statement. "We look forward to working with Seibu to enhance the value of these assets."
The sale will cover about 40% of the 76 properties Prince Hotels Inc. owns. The assets to be sold include Naeba ski resort in Niigata Prefecture and Ryuo Golf Course in Shiga Prefecture.