Avillion Bhd has not received an offer to acquire Avillion Port Dickson (PD), a five-star beach resort in Negeri Sembilan, say sources with knowledge on the matter.
According to the sources, the group received an unsolicited offer from China-based Guangxi East Hangyang Investment Group which is to acquire six parcels of land in Port Dickson measuring a total of 20.3 hectares for RM382 million.
"Three parcels are located within the Admiral Cove development in Port Dickson. The rest are parcels of land owned by Avillion that is located elsewhere in Port Dickson," said the source.
Guangxi, established in the 1990s, has an interest in high-end property development, hotels, food and beverage, tourism and entertainment.
It has been looking to expand outside of China and is eyeing development land in Malaysia. It narrowed down on Port Dickson as it believes the area has the potential for tourism development.
An English daily reported recently that Avillion had received an unsolicited RM382 million offer from Guangxi East Hangyang to purchase the resort and land in Port Dickson.
It said the offer includes acquiring parcels of undeveloped land in Mukim Sri Rusa.
"This is not true...the offer from Guangxi East Hangyang is to acquire six parcels of land and not the resort. Avillion is not selling the resort. It has not gone to the market but if the group does receive a good offer, it will consider selling it and reinvesting the sum in other developments," the source told NST Property.
Avillion PD sits over 9.2ha of coast scenery and offers 258 exquisitely designed rooms, chalets, and villas.
According to Avillion's 2018 annual report, the resort is valued at RM155 million.
The developer said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia last week that the group has received an "unsolicited offer" from Guangxi East Hangyang on 21 February 2020 to buy certain plots of land it owns in Port Dickson.
It said the indicative price mentioned in the letter of offer is for a consideration of RM382 million, which is subject to due diligence and final agreements such as land purchase agreements to be signed.
Admiral Cove
Avillion's on-going development in Port Dickson is Admiral Cove, built over 40ha of prime waterfront land on the 5th Mile of Port Dickson's coastline.
The developer has designed Admiral Cove to become a major international tourist destination. The development parcels of the self-contained community include Admiral Marina and Leisure Club with an international class marina dry stacking facility, waterfront condominiums, signature edition Waterfront bungalows, and semi-detached homes, edge-of-the-water suites hotel and service apartments.
The project was conceptually conceived in 1994 and the first phase was completed in 1998. It was voted “the best-planned resort development project” by the State Government in 1996.
To date, about 22ha of Admiral Cove has been developed, comprising two blocks of 345 units waterfront condominiums (the Marina Bay and Marina Crescent), Admiral Marina and Leisure Club with dry and wet berths, the Marina Mansion waterfront bungalows and the Marina Cape.
The source said it is not clear if Guangxi East Hangyang is looking to also develop the land that it is proposing to acquire in Admiral Cove jointly with Avillion, or what it intends to build there.
"Avillion is open to discussions with the Chinese group. Let the land deal go through first," said the source.
Avillion, through its hotel division, Avillion Hotel Group operates a chain of beach resorts, hotels and spa in Malaysia and Indonesia.
It consists of Avillion PD, Avillion Admiral Cove, Avillion Legacy Melaka, Avillion Cameron Highlands, Avillion Villa Cinta Bali, and the 65-room Avi Pangkor Beach Resort.
The oldest is the 260-room Avillion PD which was established in 1998.
Avillion group managing director See Ah Sing told NST Property last year that Avillion PD is the most profitable property for Avillion Hotel Group.
The average occupancy rate at Avillion PD is 60 per cent per year. Avillion PD is the first water chalet development in the ASEAN region, hence its popularity among foreign tourists.