The casino, hotel and convention centre operator announced this morning that it had inked a sale and purchase agreement with Eden Global Capital Private and Auckland City Collective (EGC and ACCL) for The Grand Hotel, which has 312 rooms.
The buyers are part of a privately owned property investment and development organisation that works across Australia and Southeast Asia.
SkyCity is expecting settlement of the sale in December but notes that the deal still needs to be approved by the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office.
Under the sale agreement, SkyCity will continue to manage the hotel until the middle of 2027.
“We are pleased to have entered a binding agreement to sell The Grand Hotel and to be working with EGC and ACCL to help further strengthen the SkyCity Auckland precinct,” said SkyCity CEO, Jason Walbridge.
“With the sale of The Grand Hotel we will have raised proceeds above our commitment to shareholders, materially strengthened our balance sheet and enhanced our financial flexibility.
“The Grand Hotel has been an important part of the SkyCity precinct for many years and we look forward to it continuing to be a long-term part of the precinct, supported by EGC’s and ACCL’s ownership and commitment to the hotel.”
Director of EGC and ACCL, Scott Collins, said the company had previously owned property in New Zealand’s largest city and was “pleased to have identified the opportunity to redeploy capital back into New Zealand”.
“The nature, asset selection and timing of the acquisition, and the ability to work closely with SkyCity aligned well with our investment aspirations,” said Collins.
“We look forward to the role that we can fulfil in the continued prominence and success of the SkyCity precinct.”
The precinct also includes New Zealand’s newest and largest convention centre, the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC), which opened in February.
As part of its asset monetisation program, SkyCity has also recently sold four other buildings it owns in the Auckland CBD, including a 17-floor office building, for NZ$74.5 million.
Alongside this, after knocking back two takeover offers earlier this year, SkyCity announced last month that it is more actively looking at selling the business. It also confirmed that it will shortly begin the process to sell off SkyCity Adelaide in Australia, which includes luxury hotel rooms and significant event space.
