New World Hotels (Holdings)

New World Hotels (Holdings) Limited

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Hospitality, Hotel management
Predecessor	Kai Tak Land Investment Limited
Founded	1957
Fate	Privatized in 1990
Headquarters	Hong Kong , Hong Kong
Area served	Worldwide (including Hong Kong, mainland China, United States, Taiwan, Canada)
Products	Hotel ownership and management
Owner	New World Development
Parent	New World Development

New World Hotels (Holdings) Limited, previously known as Kai Tak Land Investment Limited, was once a publicly traded company in Hong Kong and is presently a fully owned subsidiary under New World Development.

History

The company was initially established as Victoria Park Hotel Limited in 1957 in British Hong Kong and underwent a name change to Kai Tak Land Investment in 1961. It secured a listing on the and Kam Ngan Stock Exchange in 1972, which were forerunners of the modern Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

Its developments included the Kai Tak Commercial Building located in Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island, along with holding leasehold interests in crown land situated in Tai Kok Tsui designated for residential projects.

In October 1976, New World Development (NWD) acquired majority control by issuing 46,226,000 newly created shares as consideration. Subsequently, the company served as the sub-holding entity for NWD’s hotel portfolio and was renamed New World Hotels (Holdings) in 1986.

In 1990, New World Hotels (Holdings) was privatized through a joint venture between Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and New World Development at a price of HK$6.25 per share, with ownership split at 36% and 64% respectively. Before this privatization, NWD held 50.13% and Chow Tai Fook owned 24.54%. The transaction concluded on 26 June 1990.

At that point, including its acquisition of Ramada–Renaissance Hotels, the New World Development group managed or owned a total of 152,336 hotel rooms worldwide. This extensive portfolio included a dominant presence in the United States with 144,000 rooms, alongside holdings in Taiwan (249 rooms), Canada (432 rooms), and various Chinese cities such as Guangzhou (1,200 rooms), Hangzhou (570 rooms), Guilin (610 rooms), Xi'an (502 rooms), Shanghai (577 rooms), Beijing (497 rooms), and Suzhou (409 rooms). In Hong Kong alone, the group operated five hotels: New World Tsim Sha Tsui (723 rooms), The Regent Hong Kong (602 rooms), Hotel Victoria in Sheung Wan (539 rooms), Grand Hyatt Hong Kong (574 rooms), and Renaissance Harbour View Hotel Wan Chai (852 rooms).

The joint venture responsible for managing these hotel assets between Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and New World Development was identified as Beames Holdings Limited.

Legacy

By 2018, New World Development had full or partial ownership of sixteen hotels, with only five situated in mainland China—three in Beijing, one in Shunde, and one in Wuhan. These properties operated under brands such as penta, New World, and Rosewood and were managed by Rosewood Hotel Group, a subsidiary owned by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, which is the private parent company of New World Development.

As of 30 June 2018, New World Hotels (Holdings) remained a wholly owned subsidiary of New World Development. Between the years 1999 and 2006, it was known by the name NWD (Hotels Investments) Limited.

Hong Kong

Out of the five hotels held by New World Development–New World Hotels (Holdings) in Hong Kong during 1990, only two continue to be part of the current portfolio. Although an additional five properties were later incorporated—bringing the total to seven—several important assets were either sold off or redeveloped.

Hotel Victoria ceased operations in 1995 and was transformed into the East Tower of Shun Tak Centre, now called China Merchants Tower. In August 2001, New World divested its 75% interest in The Regent Hong Kong for HK$185 million. The New World Hotel, later renamed Renaissance Kowloon Hotel, was demolished in 2010 to make way for redevelopment of the New World Centre.

In 2013, New World Development planned to publicly list three Hong Kong hotels under NW Hotel Investments. These properties included Grand Hyatt Hong Kong and Renaissance Harbour View Hotel—originally part of New World Hotels—and Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui, which was fully owned by NWD. However, due to unfavorable market conditions, this initial public offering was ultimately withdrawn.

In April 2015, these three hotels were sold to a joint venture equally controlled by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and New World Development through Beames Holdings. Additionally, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises sold its 36% stakes in Grand Hyatt Hong Kong and Renaissance Harbour View to this joint venture. ADIA’s investment amounted to HK$18.5 billion for its share, while NWD received HK$10 billion from the transaction.

Currently, NWD’s hotel portfolio includes Hyatt Regency Sha Tin—which opened in 2011 at the Chinese University of Hong Kong—Novotel Citygate Hong Kong, Rosewood Hong Kong, and pentahotel Hong Kong.

Mainland China

After New World Hotels (Holdings) underwent privatization, the publicly traded subsidiary New World China Land (1999–2016) became the holding entity responsible for hotel properties located in mainland China. This arrangement did not include certain hotels such as Rosewood Beijing (previously known as Jingguang New World), China Hotel, and Grand New World Hotel in Xi'an, which remained under the direct ownership of New World Development. In 1999, New World Development held minority interests in these hotels: 20.5% in Jingguang New World, 9.0% in China Hotel, and 22.4% in Grand New World Hotel.

By the year 2015, New World China Land's portfolio consisted of eight hotels. Several properties located in Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Guilin, Xi'an, and Suzhou had been divested. The hotels previously held in Shanghai were replaced by New World Mayfair Hotel Shanghai () and pentahotel Shanghai, which forms part of the Shanghai Ramada Plaza completed in 2002.

In July 2015, New World China Land divested its hotel management division, New World Hotel Management (BVI) Limited—operating as Rosewood Hotel Group—to its privately held parent company Chow Tai Fook Enterprises. Following the privatization of New World China Land in 2016, these hotel assets were once again owned directly by New World Development.

In 2017, both New World Mayfair Hotel Shanghai and pentahotel Shanghai were sold for a total of RMB1.85 billion.

At present, aside from Rosewood Beijing situated within Jingguang Centre (formerly the New World Beijing Hotel), NWD holds ownership of pentahotel Beijing (previously Courtyard By Marriott New World) as well as the current New World Beijing Hotel located on Qinian Street in Dongcheng District’s Wangfujing area. Additional hotels under the NWD Group's portfolio in China include properties in Shunde and Wuhan.

Rest of the world

In July 1997, New World Hotels (Holdings), which was then 64% owned by New World Development, disposed of its hotel assets outside Hong Kong, mainland China, and Southeast Asia—held through Hotel Property Investments (BVI) Limited—to CTF Holdings, a company controlled by Henry Cheng (son of Cheng Yu-tung, chairman of New World Development) and William Doo Wai-hoi. As of 30 June 2018, Hotel Property Investments (BVI) is wholly owned by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, the Cheng family’s principal private holding company. The transaction was valued at approximately US$80 million (around HK$619 million). Although specific hotels involved were not disclosed by New World Development, these properties were believed to be operated under the Renaissance Hotels and Ramada brands.

Additional transactions

Renaissance Hotel Group N.V., operating under the brand Renaissance Hotels and functioning as a subsidiary of New World Hotels (Holdings) following the 1990 privatization, was divested by New World Development to Marriott International in April 1997 for US$491 million (approximately HK$3.8 billion).

In 2015, New World Development purchased the remaining 36% ownership in Beames Holdings—the parent company of New World Hotels (Holdings)—from Chow Tai Fook Enterprises for HK$3.619 billion. Beames Holdings held major interests in properties such as Rosewood Beijing, Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon, New World Hotel Saigon, New World Makati, a joint venture with ADIA, along with real estate assets including portions of Shun Tak Centre.