Hanjin KAL offloads Waikiki Resort Hotel in Hawaii for $101 million

The holding company of Hanjin Group, the owner of Korean Air, sold the three-star resort to Sonoin International for $101 million.

The Waikiki Resort Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii [SONO International]

Hanjin KAL, the holding company of Hanjin Group best known for owning Korean Air, has sold its entire stake in the three-star Waikiki Resort Hotel in Hawaii to Sono International, a domestic hotel and resort firm, for $101 million.

Hanjin KAL announced that it completely divested its ownership of the hotel to an undisclosed counterpart per a board resolution aimed at "securing funds," according to its electronic disclosure on DART on Friday. Sono International later confirmed that it was the purchaser.

The sale of Waikiki Resort Hotel follows a prior attempt to sell to the U.S.-based real estate investment company AHI-CLG LLC last year. Negotiations fell through, however, due to disagreements over transaction terms.

Situated on Oahu Island in Honolulu, the hotel boasts a floor area of 19,800 square meters (213,000 square feet) with a total of 275 rooms spanning one basement floor and 19 aboveground floors.

Sono International said on Friday that it had signed a Sales and Purchase Agreement for the acquisition of the Waikiki Resort Hotel, expanding its global hotel and resort chain business portfolio.

"This contract holds great significance as it marks the entry ... into Hawaii, a globally renowned tourist destination visited by 10 million people annually," the Korean hotel and resort chain said Friday.

Sono International, operating under the SONO brand, formerly Daemyung, manages 17 hotels and resorts in Korea.

Since venturing overseas in 2019 with the consigned operation of Sono Belle Haiphong in Vietnam, Sono International has expanded its international footprint by acquiring the Normandy Hotel in the U.S. capital of Washington in 2022, the 33 Seaport Hotel New York in New York City in 2023, and the Hotel Dame des Arts in Paris in March.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]