Hilton Singapore was the maiden acquisition of Hotel Properties (HPL), the company co-founded by its managing director, Mr Ong Beng Seng, now one of Singapore's leading property tycoons.

HPL, formed in January 1980 to buy the hotel for $72 million, has since come to own properties as far afield as the United States and Maldives. And it has added considerably to its Orchard Road holdings.

Its assets include the 255-room Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, whose land value was stated at $50 million and the freehold building at $78.5 million, based on HPL's latest annual report. The value of freehold land on which the nine-storey HPL House in Cuscaden Road sits was stated at $19.7 million and the building at $2.8 million.

The value of 99-year lease Concorde Hotel Singapore was stated at $82.7 million. HPL also owns 62 shops at Concorde Shopping Mall. The group's crown jewel, the Hilton Singapore, sits on land valued at $208.8 million and the building at $6.6 million.

HPL also owns office and shop units at Forum The Shopping Mall. Several of its assets in the area - Forum, Hilton Singapore, Four Seasons Hotel Singapore and HPL House - sit on a large adjoining land site estimated at about 212,000 sq ft. Speculation has long been rife that a mega-development combining these developments is in the works.