Abu Dhabi Sovereign Fund offloads Darling Harbour Hotel pair for $390m
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is selling its twin Sydney hotel assets — the Novotel and Ibis at Darling Harbour — in a deal valued at $390 million.
According to the Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk, the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund has contracted with Wentworth Capital, a property investment firm founded by former Blackstone and Mirvac operatives in 2019, as the incoming owner of the combined 781-room portfolio.
The transaction closes at a notable discount to ADIA's original ambitions. When the hotels were brought to market in early 2021 — a period severely impacted by pandemic-era border closures — price expectations sat at about $500 million.
Despite early interest from Billbergia Group and Salter Brothers, including proposals centred on residential conversion potential, Wentworth ultimately prevailed in the competitive process.
The Novotel Darling Harbour is a 4.5-star, 525-room freehold property and a fixture of the Sydney CBD skyline since its construction in 1991. Adjacent to it, the three-star Ibis operates as a strata-titled property. Together, the two hotels occupy 1.5 hectares in one of Sydney's most trafficked precincts. The broader neighbourhood continues to attract major capital — ASX-listed Mirvac is progressing a $2.3 billion project that includes a 48-level luxury apartment tower nearby.
Wentworth is deploying capital through its flagship Wentworth Real Estate Private Equity Fund I, which reached its $350 million hard cap last year. The firm is understood to be planning a second fund raise later in 2025.
Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai & Co. — which also holds Sydney's Intercontinental Hotel and interests in Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton properties internationally — has joined as a strategic co-investor, per an update distributed to Wentworth investors.
The investor communication cited the $390 million price as representing a 50 per cent discount to estimated replacement cost, and sitting 23 per cent below comparable Sydney hotel transactions. With the Sydney market having recovered to approximately 85 per cent occupancy from pandemic lows, Wentworth's backers were advised of a 6 per cent acquisition yield — favourably above the 4.8 per cent benchmark for comparable deals.
Investors were told the site's scale and prime location presented "longer-term development potential", though sources confirmed this was not central to Wentworth's near-term business plan. A refurbishment is expected, with the Novotel's interiors last updated in 2018.
Settlement is anticipated for April, subject to NSW government approvals.
For ADIA, the Darling Harbour disposal is one piece of a wider portfolio management exercise in Australia. The fund is simultaneously managing a $4 billion-plus refinancing of its Australian infrastructure portfolio, spanning interests in Port Kembla, Port Botany and Queensland Motorways.
ADIA had held the Novotel and Ibis since 2013.
Jonathan Jackson, 2nd March 2026
