Property developer Magnolia Quality Development Corporation (MQDC) explores opportunities to expand businesses around the globe through its investment subsidiary, DTGO Prosperous Ltd (DTP).
Hansa Susayan, DTP’s chairman, said DTP was established five years ago to diversify the group into recurring income investments such as retail, office, hotel, healthcare and technology.
“Our parent, MQDC, is a property arm of DTGO Corporation which invests in various businesses,” he said. “Our mission and goal are the same to DTGO and MQDC with a dedication of 2% of topline revenue to social and environmental initiatives.”
Thiti Thongbenjamas, DTP’s president, said DTP is keen on four key businesses comprising global investment, asset management, fund management, venture capital and innovative investment.
“The global investment will diversify to five categories with hospitality, the largest proportion, accounting for 50%. The rests are healthcare, retail and office, student accommodation or apartments and technology,”
Mr Thiti added that the company explores opportunities around the globe with potential destinations like the US, Europe, South Africa, China, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, India, Vietnam and Singapore.
In 2019, two months before COVID-19 broke out, DTP acquired several hotels in the UK, from Glasgow in the north down to Plymouth in the south. These hotels comprise ten different brands managed by three international hotel chains.
After the acquisition, DTP’s asset management team renovated and added value to the assets, resulting in a higher assets value, said Mr Thiti.
“Despite the pandemic that froze the hospitality business in 2020, we did not lay off our hotel staff totalling over 1,200 or cut their salary,” he said. “When the UK reopened in early 2021, our hotels were ready to operate immediately and had higher occupancy than competitors, which mostly had staff shortage problems.”
“Our hotel portfolio is also a balance of leisure and business.” Mr Thiti added.
As the UK is facing the energy crisis, DTP also applied heat-to-power conversion technology and locked in energy rates to cope with energy consumption and soaring gas and electricity bills.
“It also aligns with our parent MQDC’s key principle to develop projects that foster sustainability and well-being for all,’’ Mr Thiti added. “The experience and knowledge we got from the UK can be applied to other businesses we will invest in going forward,” Mr Thiti added.
For the fund management business DTP, in September 2022, set up a real estate investment trust (REIT) management firm, DTP Global REITs Management (DTPRM) and launched DTP Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust (DTPHREIT).
DTPHREIT is a hotel and leasehold REIT to invest up to 4.1 billion baht in MQDC’s high-potential hotel business, with the condition that the former owner agrees to buy back the assets at the end of its three-year investment period.
The assets sold into the trust are three properties. One of them is U Khao Yai Hotel, with 63 rooms in Khao Yai, Nakhon Ratchasima, managed by Absolute Hotel Service.
The rest two are located at the Ratchaprasong intersection in Bangkok, comprising the 171-room luxury hotel Waldorf Astoria Bangkok and 99-rooms Magnolias Ratchadamri Boulevard Serviced Residences.
“Acquire, develop and monetize is our business model,” Mr Thiti said. “We are also interested in managing private equity funds which seek investment opportunities. After they acquire assets, we will use our know-how to develop and monetise them.”
As innovative investment is the future, DTP invested in three innovative firms. One of them is REDDS Technology Fund, a fund investing in innovations and technology and operating across North America, Israel, Asia and Europe.
The other is Mind AI, an artificial intelligence engine and an ecosystem created to offer an entirely new approach to AI.
“Innovations we invest in are aimed at helping improve the well-being of people,” said Mr Hansa. “We want to be a global investment firm which focuses on social and environmental contribution everywhere we get involved with or invest in.”
