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Centara Shifts to Asset-Light Hotel Growth With Large Investors
Centara Hotels & Resorts is moving toward an asset-light expansion model, seeking multi-property partnerships with large investors to grow internationally without expanding its own balance sheet. The Thai operator, part of Central Group, aims to double in size while adding managed hotels rather than owned assets.
Chief Operating Officer Michael Henssler said the Thai hotel group is going further into an asset-light strategy, managing properties owned by outside investors instead of financing them itself. The approach favors multi-property deals with large investors over individual hotel transactions.
Centara is part of Central Group, the Thai retail conglomerate controlled by the Chirathivat family. Its brands cover luxury resorts, upscale hotels and more affordable accommodation, including Centara Reserve, Centara Grand, Centara and Centara Life. Operations extend beyond Thailand to markets including the Maldives, Japan and the Middle East.
As of August, Centara operated 52 hotels, comprising 23 owned or joint-venture properties and 29 managed hotels. A further 41 properties were in its development pipeline, according to company figures.
The strategy is meant to let Centara double in size without doubling its balance sheet by betting on portfolios of hotels rather than one-off deals. The company is also eyeing distress in the Gulf, which the COO identifies as an opportunity. The open question is whether a mid-sized Thai operator can win those portfolios against global brands, and whether that distress can translate into signed agreements.