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History
The past two decades saw merger and acquisition activities involving real estate and hospitality players in Singapore like Scotts Holdings, Pidemco Land, Somerset International, Liang Court Holdings, Stamford Group and DBS Land, as well as Citadines, an established hospitality brand in Europe. These developments eventually led to the establishment of The Ascott Limited (Ascott), the world's largest international serviced residence owner-operator with a global presence spanning over 70 cities across more than 20 countries. As a measure of its success, the company established the world's first pan-Asian serviced residence real estate investment trust, the Ascott Residence Trust, which was listed in 2006. In 2008, Ascott became a wholly-owned serviced residence subsidiary of CapitaLand, one of Asia's largest real estate companies. Ascott and Citadines celebrated 25 years in the serviced residence business in 2009.
| 1984 |
Scotts Holdings, a well-known Singapore corporation with business interests in serviced apartments, shopping centres and property investments, opened Asia Pacific's first international-class serviced residence – The Ascott Singapore - at a time when serviced residences was a new concept in the region. The Ascott Singapore opened on 14 August 1984.
Citadines started operations in Europe with its first apart'hotel, Paris La Defénse, France, in July.
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| 1991 |
Scotts Holdings was listed in Singapore. |
| 1997 |
Citadines acquired Orion, its main competitor. In the same year, Citadines was taken over by hotel group Westmont Hospitality Group and real estate investment fund Whitehall. |
| 1998 |
Pidemco Land* set up Somerset International, its new serviced residence arm.
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| 1999 |
Somerset International acquired Liang Court Holdings, one of Asia's largest serviced residence operators, to form Somerset Holdings. Together, these two companies had a combined portfolio of 3,200 serviced residence units in 15 cities.
Scotts Holdings merged with Stamford Group, the serviced residence arm of DBS Land* to form The Ascott Limited, creating a joint portfolio of more than 1,700 units in eight cities.
Citadines merged with Orion, and Whitehall and Westmont later sold its tourist-oriented Orion serviced residences to focus on its business clientele.
Citadines was repositioned and boosted by the development of a new visual identity. The Citadines concept in Europe was redefined to offer a la carte services, emphasising the brand values of flexibility and independence.
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| 2000 |
The Ascott Group was listed in Singapore following the merger of Somerset Holdings and The Ascott Limited in 2000. The company's total portfolio grew to over 6,000 serviced residence units in 16 cities across 10 countries. |
| 2002 |
Ascott entered into an agreement to acquire a 50 percent stake in Citadines, a pan-European serviced residence chain with over 5,000 units in 18 cities across France, the UK, Belgium, Spain and Germany. When the acquisition was completed in the first quarter of 2003, it increased Ascott's portfolio to over 13,800 units in 39 cities across 16 countries, making it the largest international serviced residence operator outside the US. |
| 2004 |
Ascott acquired the remaining 50 percent interest in Citadines. The company now owns the three brands: Ascott, Citadines and Somerset. |
| 2005 |
Ascott's global footprint expanded to 17 countries with the opening of Somerset Palace, Seoul, South Korea's largest serviced residence.
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| 2006 |
The world's first pan-Asian serviced residence REIT, the Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit), was established and listed on 31 March 2006 in Singapore.
Ascott expanded to the Gulf region and India, bringing its presence to 46 cities across 20 countries.
Ascott brought Citadines to Asia with opening of Citadines Shanghai Jinqiao.
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| 2007 |
Ascott launched the Ascott China Fund, the first private equity fund dedicated to investing in serviced residences across China
Ascott brought Citadines to Singapore and Japan with the announcement of Citadines Singapore Mount Sophia and Citadines Tokyo Shinjuku.
Ascott expanded into Tbilisi in Georgia and Kyoto in Japan.
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2008
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Ascott expanded its presence in Australia with its first Citadines in the country. Citadines Melbourne on Bourke will be Ascott's largest Citadines serviced residence.
Ascott became a wholly-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand, one of Asia's largest real estate companies.
Ascott transformed a national heritage building into its flagship serviced residence, Ascott Singapore Raffles Place.
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| 2009 |
Ascott and Citadines celebrated 25 years in the serviced residence business.
Ascott entered Hai Phong, Vietnam and Fontainebleau, France. This brought Ascott’s global portfolio to 67 cities and 22 countries.
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| 2010 |
Ascott extended its footprint to Danang in Vietnam, Bali in Indonesia and Chengdu and Hangzhou in China.
Ascott announced its target to grow to 40,000 apartment units globally by 2015.
Ascott injected 28 quality stabilised assets in Europe and Asia into Ascott Reit with divestment proceeds of S$974 million. This move gave Ascott financial capacity to capture new growth opportunities and has transformed Ascott Reit into a larger and stronger platform which complements Ascott's global growth strategy.
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| 2011 |
Ascott expanded into Hamburg and Frankfurt in Germany; Cyberjaya, Nusajaya and Petaling Jaya in Malaysia; Foshan and Macau SAR in China; and Muscat in Oman.
Ascott acquired Ascott Arc de Triomphe Paris, which is the first premier Ascott-branded serviced residence to open in France.
Ascott opened its first serviced residence in India - Citadines Richmond Bangalore.
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| 2012 |
Ascott extended its footprint to Xiamen in China.
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* DBS Land and Pidemco Land merged in 2000 to form CapitaLand Limited. Ascott is a member of CapitaLand Limited.
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