EVT launches management company

SYDNEY – EVT Ltd. has launched a third-party management business, EVT Connect Hospitality, and is seeding the new venture by acquiring Pro-invest Group’s hotel management company, which includes 15 long-term management deals (approximately 3,200 rooms) across Australia and New Zealand.

Tapping into a wider regional industry shift toward larger, third-party management platforms, the deal reportedly includes A$74 million for the management company and an additional scaled consideration of up to A$30 million if EBITDA in the 2025 and 2026 calendar years is higher than management’s current expectations.

EVT is paying for the deal with proceeds from an existing bank debt facility and expects the acquisition to deliver incremental normalized EBITDA of A$8 million to A$9 million per year, including synergies.

The deal is expected to close late this year or early 2026 with Pro-invest retaining asset management responsibilities for the 15 hotels owned by the three hotel investment funds via its fund management platform. The hotels will continue to operate under their existing brands.

The hotels in the deal include IHG-branded properties, including Holiday Inn Express properties, Hotel Indigos in Melbourne and at Potts Point, and a voco in Auckland.

Pro-invest, having grown to a network of 30 hotels across Australia and New Zealand, will also retain its operating capacity and continue to manage its VISTA hotels portfolio, while expanding its focus in commercial office, flex living and other operational real estate investment opportunities.

“The launch of EVT Connect Hospitality, seeded by the acquisition of PIH, represents a further initiative to grow hotel earnings,” said Jane Hastings, CEO of EVT.

Ronald Barrott, founder and chairman of Pro-invest Group, said, “We will continue to focus on hotel asset management while expanding in the rapidly growing sectors of flex living, BTR, and mixed-use developments. This deal with EVT is the right deal to benefit both our investors and our people and will further enhance EVT’s growth trajectory.”