A joint venture between hotel company China Lodging Group and private equity firm TPG Capital Asia has acquired two hotels in Beijing' Chaoyang District central business area in a RMB 1.18-billion sale from Singapore's Ascendas Hospitality Trust. The purchase of the 306-guestroom Novotel Beijing Sanyuan and adjacent 397-guestroom Ibis Beijing Sanyuan is scheduled to close in the first half of 2018.

The JV plans to renovate the China Lodging-operated hotels once the sale is complete. "Going forward, the asset-light model will continue to be Huazhu's primary focus," Jenny Zhang, CEO of China Lodging Group, said in a statement. "Huazhu will work with investment partners through minority participation to create more flagship hotels and generate more investment return based on our strong operational expertise." Zhang said.

Investment firm Hitone Capital advised the companies on the sale, which was TPG's first investment in China's hotel market. TPG also has a portfolio of more than $73 billion in assets under management. 

Its partner China Lodging Group operates a portfolio of 3,746 hotels with 379,675 guestrooms in 378 cities as of December 31, 2017. The company also operates franchised hotels under the Mercure, Ibis, Ibis Styles, Grand Mercure and Novotel brands in China.