China's Sunshine Insurance Group is edging closer to the purchase of Sydney’s Sheraton on the Park for a record price of about $465 million.
Sunshine Insurance, one of China’s top 500 companies, is reported to have agreed to terms on a deal to buy the landmark property on Friday night.
On some accounts, contracts have been exchanged on the trophy property, but some executives involved said the deal was not yet finalised.
A purchase of the hotel overlooking Hyde Park from the US hospitality group Starwood would be a major marker in the march of Chinese insurers in buying global property assets.
Last week, Hilton announced it had sold its New York luxury flagship hotel the Waldorf Astoria to China’s Anbang Insurance Group for a massive $US1.95 billion ($2.23bn).
Chinese insurers Ping An and state-owned China Life have also been splashing out on property in the US and Britain.
Buying the 557-room Elizabeth Street hotel, which has benefited from an upsurge in international leisure and business tourists, would be a big step for Sunshine.
The group is yet to secure a property in Australia though it missed out on buying the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, which was purchased in May by Frasers Centrepoint for $202m.
Starwood said this year it would exit hotel ownership in Australia, though it has also flagged aggressive plans to increase its management of hotels in the country.
The company said in a statement yesterday: “We do not comment on any market rumours and will not announce any transaction until it is complete. What we can say is that we seek long-term partners who share our vision for our hotels to be brand enhancing properties, and that we remain highly committed to the Australian hotel market.”