Chinese buy Baccarat

SHANGHAI: China’s Sunshine Insurance would purchase Manhattan’s luxurious Baccarat Hotel from Starwood Capital Group LLC for $230 million, equivalent to more than $2 million per room, the insurance company said in a statement yesterday.

The Beijing-based insurer’s statement confirmed the deal size, initially reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday. The paper said the valuation of more than $2 million per room was the most expensive hotel deal on record.

The deal comes as Chinese companies embark on an overseas real estate buying spree. China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co will purchase New York’s famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel for $1.95 billion after US regulators approved the transaction earlier this month.

The Baccarat Hotel was built by Starwood Capital Group, founded by real-estate tycoon Barry Sternlicht who was previously the chief executive officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, the company behind upmarket hotel chains including the St Regis, Westin and W Hotels.

Last November Sunshine Insurance bought Sydney’s upmarket Sheraton on the Park hotel for $399 million.

The Baccarat Hotel, which will have 114 rooms and be decorated with 15,000 pieces of crystal from France’s Baccarat SA, will charge up to $18,000 per night for suites.