IGIS reportedly acquiring Millennium Hilton Seoul to turn it into an office building

IGIS Asset Management is reportedly in talks of acquiring the Millennium Hilton Seoul for ₩1 trillion or around $891.2 million. Based on the reports, the luxury hotel may be transformed into an office building after the purchase.

The potential acquisition deal

As per The Korea Herald, the five-star hotel was formerly owned by Daewoo Group, and it has been in operation for 38 years now. But on Tuesday, May 25, it was revealed that Millennium Hilton Seoul could end its service as it may be taken over by a new company.

Millennium Hilton Seoul and IGIS Asset Management are said to be already in talks for the sale of the establishment. The hotel’s largest shareholder, CDL Hotel Korea, is planning to let the asset management firm take over and remodel it to become an office building.

CDL Hotel is the Korean branch of a Singaporean investment company called the City Developments. In any case, when reached for comments, IGIS was said to have refused to confirm if the acquisition news is true.

The plans to sell Millennium Hilton Seoul were mainly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the outbreak hit the country early last year, bookings in the hotel for accommodations and weddings immediately plummeted.

“Since the hotel industry has been financially struggling in recent months, hotels are trying to scale down their businesses and transform their hotel properties into residential or office buildings,” an official from the hotel business sector explained. “Because of a financial crunch, even Hotel Shilla, the largest hotel chain in Korea, asked their employees to take unpaid leave.”

There were rumors that the Millennium Hilton Seoul has been looking for a buyer for many months now, but nothing has been confirmed yet as of this time.

Hotel to be repurposed to house company offices

Korea Joongang Daily further reported that the sale of the Millennium Hilton Seoul, a seven-story five-star hotel with 700 rooms located at the heart of Seoul, was already reported by multiple media outlets, although there are no official words from the concerned parties yet.

Despite this, Korea Joongang Daily wrote that the talks for the acquisition of the luxury hotel are already in the final stage. The companies involved are said to be finalizing the deal now.