Australian publicly listed conglomerate EVT Limited will acquire Pro-invest Group’s hotel-management division, Pro-invest Hotels, which operates approximately 3,200 rooms in 15 hotels under international brand flags in Australia and New Zealand.
No financial details were given.
A new division, EVT Connect Hospitality, will operate the hotels, marking a debut for its parent company into third-party hotel-management.
Both entities are headquartered in Sydney. EVT already owns hotels operating under brands such as Atura Hotels, Lylo, QT Hotels and Rydges Hotels & Resorts. It also owns the operations of Thredbo Village Resort, a premium ski destination via subsidiary Kosciusko Thredbo.
EVT holds the overall lease on the village, in the state of New South Wales and which comprises more than 700 sub-leases, with the principal landlord being the Australia’s National Parks & Wildlife Service.
On Jan. 1, 2026, its Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens Melbourne will become the Rydges Flagstaff Gardens. EVT also has interests in commercial real estate, cinemas and digital and technology, among other sectors.
“Pro-invest Group will retain asset-management responsibilities for the 15 hotels owned by three hotel investment funds via its fund-management platform,” according to the news release.
Pro-invest will retain its operating capacity in and management of its Vista Hospitality Group hotels portfolio, which comprises 10 hotels, including the 212-room Hotel Indigo Brisbane City Center; 168-room Sage Hotel Wollongong, and 162-room Ink Hotel Melbourne Southbank.
Both portfolios have a combined room count of approximately 6,000.
“The launch of EVT Connect Hospitality, seeded by the acquisition of Pro-invest Hotels, represents a further initiative to grow hotel earnings. EVT Connect Hospitality will further enhance EVT’s ability to deliver value for asset owners who seek to franchise a third-party brand, supported by the expertise of the Pro-invest Hotels team,” said Jane Hastings, EVT’s CEO.
Pro-invest has expanded its business scope of late to include assets in flex living and the commercial office and residential real-estate classes.
In March 2024, Sabine Schaffer, managing partner and CEO, Europe, Pro-invest, told CoStar News Hotels that the firm had its sights on expanding its portfolio notably in Europe. She said Pro-invest was entering the residential sphere "but managing properties as we would hotels. Investment, development and management will be end to end, just like we do with hotels. Our approach to management of these residences will be hospitality-focused.”
This approach remains Pro-invest’s strategy, according to Ronald Barrott, its founder and chairman.
Commenting on the EVT development, he said Pro-invest “will continue to focus on hotel asset management while expanding in the rapidly growing sectors of flex living, [build to rent] and mixed-use developments.
“This deal with EVT is the right deal to benefit both our investors and our people and will further enhance EVT’s growth trajectory,” he added.
In September 2022, Pro-invest announced an investment platform with ICG Real Estate to invest approximately £500 million ($675 million), initially in United Kingdom hotels,” which Schaffer said at the time would “create a diversified, institutional-quality portfolio that will meet evolving consumer demand and environmental, social and governance requirements.”
The company opened a European office in London in 2021.
