Thai group has eye on Cypress Lakes, Hunter Valley resort

Thai hotel group Minor International reportedly has its eye on a Hunter Valley resort being sold by Singapore-based Lasseters International Holdings.

About a two-hour drive from Sydney, the Cypress Lakes Resort has 146 villas sitting on a 98-hectare parcel suitable for further development.

Lasseters put the luxury resort and a series of Golden Door health retreats on the market last year hoping to reap more than $30 million.

It’s said by the Australian Financial Review the Thai group is more interested in the managing rights to the resort, rather than the health spas, which themselves could be worth up to $20 million.

The performance of the golf and spa sanctuary, set among Hunter Valley vineyards, has been under pressure, but it has attracted the interest of potential buyers from Asia.

A Chinese group reportedly also made a play.

Selling agents Mark Durran and Peter Harper of Jones Lang LaSalle declined to comment.

This isn’t the first appearance by Minor International, which flagged that it was seeking expansion opportunities in Australian mining towns.

Its other purchases include the Oasis Resort at Caloundra, Queensland, and the management of Sydney’s Regis serviced apartment tower.