This article was published on Jan. 16, 2025, at 3:05 p.m. on the CHOSUNBIZ MoneyMove site.
Private equity firm VIG Partners has confirmed its intention to acquire the resort institutional sector from Hanwha Hotels & Resorts. It plans to acquire only the resort without including the hotel.
According to investment banking (IB) industry sources on the 16th, VIG Partners has communicated its interest in acquiring the resort business from Hanwha Hotels & Resorts several times.
Hanwha Hotels & Resorts is an affiliate of Hanwha Group, operating the Hanwha Resort chain, The Plaza Hotel, and Waterpia. Hanwha holds a 49.8% equity stake, while Hanwha Solutions holds 49.57%. Although it was previously a publicly listed company, it became a private entity during the restructuring process.
Hanwha Hotels & Resorts classifies its assets into the "resort institutional sector," which includes condos, hotels, and golf courses, and the "estate institutional sector," which encompasses real estate assets and facility management.
As of 2023, the annual revenue of the strategic and operational sectors, including condos and hotels, is around 595.3 billion won. The revenue from the estate sector amounted to 166.8 billion won. For the last year, the cumulative revenue from the resort sector for the first three quarters was 418.1 billion won, while the estate sector's revenue was 149.9 billion won.
At the end of the third quarter last year, the resort sector's current assets (assets that can be liquidated within one year) were 206.2 billion won, and non-current assets were 28.85 trillion won. The non-current assets have shown a steady increasing trend.
The net loss for the period has shown a significant decrease compared to the previous year. The cumulative net loss for the first three quarters last year was about 1 billion won, which is one-tenth of the net loss of 11.7 billion won for the same period the previous year.
VIG Partners is reportedly interested in hotel resorts as they want to strengthen their regional network. The Plaza Hotel has been assessed as having less acquisition attractiveness in that aspect.
An IB industry insider noted, "There are almost no resort chains operating nationwide as well as Hanwha," adding, "However, Hanwha is currently facing immediate challenges, such as the acquisition of OURHOME."
According to industry reports, Hanwha has stated that it has no intention of selling the resort.