looks good long term. I think its on the way to recovery to $3...

looks good long term. I think its on the way to recovery to $3 within the next few months. Their lesser quality assets is still in strong demand.

Good perpetual income is the key, and they have it. 20 cent dividend is pretty damn good.

Market update tomorrow, im expecting good news.

GL all



A BILLIONAIRE known as "The Whiskey King of Thailand" could be on the brink of buying Sydney's glamorous Four Points Hotel, owned by cash-strapped listed property trust GPT Group.

GPT is also selling its Ayers Rock Resort, at Uluru, which Rydges Hotels & Resorts says it will be keen to buy if sold individually.

The Four Points by Sheraton, Darling Harbour, is valued at $250 million and has been described as the "jewel in the crown" of GPT's hotel and tourism portfolio.

But one source says TCC Land, which is owned by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, is the only company that has made an offer.

Expressions of interest close early next month for the Four Points, and GPT Group and its agent, Jones Lang LaSalle, have declined to comment on TCC's interest, or on parties making offers for GPT's Ayers Rock Resort.

The Four Points and Ayers Rock complex are included in the $800 million hotel and tourism portfolio GPT has on the market.

The company is selling $1.7 billion worth of assets, as it teeters dangerously close to breaching its agreed debt limits.

Rydges Hotels & Resorts says it will make a play for Ayers Rock if GPT is prepared to sell it separately from Voyages Hotels & Resorts, which includes Bedarra, Lizard and Heron islands in Queensland and Cradle Mountain Lodge in Tasmania.

"We would be wanting to look at Ayers Rock, only if it was able to be acquired as a single asset, rather than how it is being marketed currently," said David Sergeant, group managing director of Amalgamated Holdings, owner of Rydges.

Jones Lang LaSalle's hotels Asia-Pacific chief executive, David Gibson, said there had been strong international interest for the Voyages lodges and the Ayers Rock Resort, which were last valued by GPT at a collective $550 million.

"We may receive expressions of interest (for just Ayers Rock) and if we don't get a satisfactory outcome on the portfolio, then we will be pursuing those, but they will be treated in a secondary way to those bidding for the portfolio," Mr Gibson said.

On other GPT assets, separate private investors are understood to be undertaking due diligence on three of its bulky goods centres in Queensland.

The three properties believed to be under due diligence are at Windsor, Cannon Hill and Mt Gravatt in Brisbane, valued by GPT at almost $74 million.

Last month GPT said it was "sounding out" the market on the sale of its $400 million home-maker portfolio.

Should TCC Land buy Four Points by Sheraton, Darling Harbour, it will own Australia's largest hotel, which has 630 rooms and an average daily rate of $199.

TCC Land has also exchanged contracts on the purchase of Sydney's four-star hotel Novotel Rockford, Darling Harbour.

The company has agreed to buy the 223-room hotel from Indigo and Rockford Hotel Group for a price in the $70 million range.

Mr Sirivadhanabhakdi features on the Forbes rich list and his liquor business owns the famous Mekong whiskey brand.

TCC Land's portfolio includes the Empire Tower, the largest office building in Thailand, and the Bangkok IT mall Pantip Plaza as well as the 18 hotels under the Plaza Athenee Hotels and Imperial Hotel brands.

Citigroup analyst Quentin Velleley said he believed GPT would end up selling the tourism assets at more than a 10 per cent discount to their book value due to the poor state of the market.

"I think, realistically, given the predicament they find themselves in, virtually every asset that they own would be up for sale," he said. "I think what is going to happen is GPT is going to have to sell better quality assets."