Indochina Land has acquired a majority stake in Danao International Holdings, Ltd., owners of the landmark Sofitel Dalat Palace hotel, the Dalat Palace Golf Club, the Ocean Dunes Golf Club, two Novotel-branded hotels in Dalat and Phan Thiet and the Riverside Apartments on the Saigon River.

Indochina Land, a division of Indochina Capital, joins Dragon Capital as the principal investors in this unique portfolio of real estate assets.  The two leading fund managers plan to expand and develop the properties to their full potential. Barry Israel, Chairman of Danao since 2000, has been asked to stay on to provide management, advice and expertise on further development of the properties.

 

“We look forward to working with Dragon Capital and Barry Israel to maximize the potential of these outstanding properties. The Indochina Land team is working hard to build a portfolio of the leading hotels and golf courses in Vietnam, all with residential development potential, so that we may provide a good return to our investors and partners. We want to provide more exciting and quality properties in the Vietnam market,” said Rick Mayo-Smith, CEO of Indochina Land.

 

Indochina has been an investor in real estate in Vietnam for the past 15 years, having developed or financed projects valued at over $1 billion including offices, apartments and hotels.  Late last year, Indochina Capital opened The Nam Hai, Vietnam’s first super luxury, all-villa resort on the Central Coast near Hoi An. The Nam Hai is managed by Adrian Zecha’s GHM, a world-renown designer and operator of resorts in Asia and North America.

 

Indochina Capital CEO, Peter Ryder, added, “The Danao portfolio of properties provides a perfect match to our existing leisure-related projects and those now under development and construction, including the Evason Hideaways Con Dao, and our projects along the Central Coast in Danang/Hoi An, where we continue to develop new properties such as The Montgomerie Links, an 18-hole championship golf course, designed by Colin Montgomerie and constructed by IMG, as well as the $80 million Marble Mountain Beach Resort to be managed by one of the world’s leading hotel operators.”

 

Indochina Land has hired Baron Ah Moo, formerly with Marriott, to serve as CEO of Indochina Hotels and Resorts, a division of Indochina Land, to assure that all the properties are operated efficiently and marketed professionally. Mr. Ah Moo made the following comment,  “Indochina Hotels and Resorts, with a significant ownership stake in seven hotels and three of the leading golf courses in the country, is in a strong position to benefit from the rapid rise of tourism arrivals to this exciting new destination—Vietnam!”
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