Ascott Residence Trust, a real estate investment trust, agreed to acquire nine quality serviced residences, rental housing and student accommodation properties across five countries for $232m. The acquisition is expected to strengthen ART’s presence in its existing markets. The assets are predominantly located in Asia-Pacific with seven of the assets in Australia, Japan and Vietnam, and two in France and the US. The acquisition of the nine properties with a total of 1k units will grow ART’s total assets to S$8.3bn as of 31 December 2021 on a pro forma basis, further consolidating ART’s position as Asia-Pacific’s largest hospitality trust.