Red Planet Japan is to Acquire Six Thai Hotels from it’s Parent Company

Main Photo: Red Planet Hotels

Date: January 2019

Location: 5 operating hotels in Surawong (Bangkok), Patong (Phuket), Asoke (Bangkok), Pattaya, and Hat Yai, and a sixth property under development in Sukhumvit Soi 8 (Bangkok). Thailand

Name: Red Planet Red Planet Hat Yai – 148 rooms, Red Planet Pattaya – 192 rooms, Red Planet Bangkok Asoke – 130 rooms, Red Planet Phuket Patong – 142 rooms, Red Planet Bangkok Surawong – 201 rooms, Red Planet Bangkok Sukhumvit 8 – 162 rooms

No. of Keys: 975

Seller: Red Planet Hotels Limited

Buyer: Red Planet Japan is to acquire six Thai hotels from its parent company. The addition means the Japanese budget operator now has 15 hotels open or in development.

The group aims to benefit from operational efficiencies, and growth in inter-regional tourism. Red Planet recently announced a joint venture with GreenOak Investment Management, to develop six new hotels across Japan.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.

The operating hotels being acquired in Thailand recorded sales equating to 692,960,064 Japanese yen in 2017 and 787,122,058 Japanese yen in 2018.

“We are delighted to announce the significant expansion of Red Planet Japan’s hotel portfolio across Asia. Bilateral tourism is showing sustained growth, particularly among millennial customers who are Red Planet’s core customer base,” said Red Planet Japan’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Hansing.

“This acquisition allows us to spread our geographical coverage and, in particular, penetrate key source markets for inbound visitation to Japan,” Hansing added.

With the expansion of low-cost carrier routes, the liberalisation of visa requirements, and a growing affinity for Japanese culture, there has been a substantial increase in the number of tourists travelling from Southeast Asia to Japan in recent years, especially from Thailand.

Thai visitors to Japan have more than doubled over the last five years to 1.13 million in 2018. Correspondingly, the number of Japanese visitors to Thailand continues to rise, exceeding 1.4 million visitors in 2016, 1.5 million in 2017, and 1.6 million in 2018.

The acquisition of Red Planet’s Thailand hotels follows a series of expansion announcements by Red Planet Japan, including the planned opening of Red Planet Hiroshima Nagarekawa in the summer of 2020 and acquisition of two flagship properties in Manila in June 2018. Further, the fast-growing brand opened Red Planet Sapporo Susukino South, its fifth hotel in Japan, in June 2018, and expects to open its second property in Sapporo, Red Planet Sapporo Susukino Central, in October 2019.

Simon Gerovich, Chairman of Red Planet Japan, added, “Red Planet Japan is now a regional leader in the Asian budget hotel space with properties in Japan, the Philippines, and Thailand.

Not only does this expanded network drive revenues and profit margins due to the economies of scale, but also underlines our regional operational expertise. As witnessed by our recently-announced joint venture which enables us to invest up to 22 billion yen in six new hotels over the next two years, we have the scale to attract new growth drivers such as franchising, management contracts, and joint ventures in both existing and new markets.”

Price: 6,585,130,000 yen, around £45,918,445

Price per Key: 6,753,979 yen – around £47,096

THPT Comment: Good to see this budget hotel operator expand both in Thailand and Japan.

First Seen: Hotel News Resource

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