China's Sunshine Insurance Group (SIG) is to buy the Baccarat Hotel in Manhattan from Starwood Capital Group for $230m, according to a report from Reuters – even though the first guests are not due until March.
The deal was initially reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Friday and Reuters said that the Beijing-based insurer confirmed the deal via a statement. The WSJ claimed the valuation of more than $2m per room made it the most expensive hotel deal on record.
The Baccarat Hotel has 114 rooms and was built by Starwood Capital Group, which was founded by real-estate tycoon Barry Sternlicht who was previously the chief executive officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (SHRW).
Chinese insurers have been bolstering their property portfolios recently as the deal is SIG's second property purchase in three months. In November the company bought Sydney's Sheraton on the Park hotel from SHRW for $399m (IAR, 21 November 2014, Chinese insurer buys Sydney hotel).
China's Anbang Insurance Group has also confirmed that it is buying New York's famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel for $1.95bn after US regulators approved the transaction at the start of February.