We are pleased to announce that our client Next Story Group ("NSG") has formed a Joint Venture ("JV") with Pro-Invest Group to establish a new Hospitality Management Company, Vista Hospitality Group Australasia ("Vista Hospitality").

The new entity combines hotel brands from each party to offer a foundation portfolio of seven hotel brands - Next, Ink, Sage, Country Comfort, Sebel, voco and Hotel Indigo. Launched with over 1,500 rooms in operations, further openings to be announced this year, the JV aims to grow the portfolio to over 5,000 rooms across Australia over the next 5 years. The JV is set to offer services ranging from development planning, asset management, franchising to hotel operations tailored for hotel owners and partners.

Next Story Group is a progressive hotel management company that offers a differentiated portfolio of distinctive and compelling hospitality and lifestyle brands. It owns, licenses and manages the Next, Ink, Sage and Country Comfort brands across Australia. Backed by Nadathur Group, the family office of Mr. Nadathur S. Raghavan (Co-Founder of NASDAQ-listed Infosys Technologies) with over $1bn in investment portfolio, NSG was founded in 2009 with a vision to create and transform spaces to connect and inspire meaningful connections.

Founded in 2010, Pro Invest is an integrated real estate investment platform covering the entire investment lifecycle, with $2bn assets under management and operators over 4,500 rooms across the global Sebel, voco, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo and Kimpton brands.

o3 Capital acted as the Exclusive Financial Advisor to Next Story Group on the transaction.