Vietnamese property developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai sells Da Nang-based HAGL Plaza Hotel

Vietnamese property developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAGL) is learnt to have sold its five-star HAGL Plaza Hotel Da Nang to a company run by an Australian Vietnamese for $25 million, according to an industry executive familiar with the development.

The transaction was sealed in April, this executive added.

The HAGL Plaza Hotel asset, encompassing a 22-storey building and land, was changed into the new brand name of One Opera Da Nang by the new owner, the source added. Chudu24, Vietnam’s leading hotel booking platform, has also updated the new name.

HAGL Group was not available for comment.

The deal, if confirmed, will be the first project in Da Nang City that HAGL has sold.

The group has also developed its residential project, the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Lake View Residence, in this central city.

In 2013, the group sold six hydro-power projects, including four already in operation, for $200 million.

Meanwhile, its real estate assets also include the half a billion dollar HAGL Myanmar complex, and a recent upgrade (worth $36 million) to the International Attapeu Airport in Laos.

The M&A deals are expected to take off for the Da Nang City’s real estate sector, especially in the hospitality property segment. In a recent sale in the city involved Indochina Land Holdings and Hong Kong’s Gaw Capital as the buyer, one of the assets sold was the Hyatt Regency Da Nang.

The city has developed 16 tourist property projects consisting of 749 villas, of which 609 are for sale and 140 for lease.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in tourist real estate made up 54 per cent of the city’s total FDI capital.