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EVT, the company better known for popcorn and projectors than for hotel deal-making, has decided it fancies running other people’s hotels, too. With a theatrical flourish, it has launched EVT Connect Hospitality and acquired Pro-invest Hotels’ management platform. This deal adds a tidy 15 hotels and 3,200 rooms to EVT’s already bulging portfolio.

For EVT, this isn’t a tentative shuffle onto the dance floor. It’s more of a stage dive — and they’ve landed squarely in the middle of the third-party management pit, a space long dominated overseas but still finding its feet in our patch of the world.

Who gets what

Under the deal, EVT Connect Hospitality takes charge of the Hotel Management Agreements for 15 properties in Australia and New Zealand. The hotels, mercifully for the confused traveller, will still trade under their familiar brand names. Guests won’t notice anything new on the pillow menu, but EVT has picked up the reins at the back of the house.

Pro-invest Group, meanwhile, keeps asset management duties. Translation: EVT does the heavy lifting in operations, while Pro-invest minds the real estate and waits for the rent cheques.

And yes, before you ask, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) also gets its moment in the sun. The deal still needs its informal nod. A formality, perhaps, but no business headline is complete without the regulatory caveat.

Pro-invest changes gears

Pro-invest isn’t exactly shuffling off into the sunset. Founder Ronald Barrott insists the group is far from exiting hospitality. They’ll still run their VISTA portfolio and remain keen on development, investment, and operations. But their sights are shifting towards flex living, build-to-rent (BTR), and commercial office plays — buzzwords that excite developers and bore the rest of us senselessly but are undeniably lucrative.

Barrott was characteristically upbeat:

“Our goal has always been to deliver high-quality, resilient assets that meet the evolving needs of modern travellers and investors alike. 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.”

Translation: we’ve built a solid platform, we’ll cash in, and we’ll still be around to clip the ticket.

EVT’s moment

Over at EVT headquarters, CEO Jane Hastings struck a note of triumph:

“The launch of EVT Connect Hospitality, seeded by the acquisition of PIH, represents a further initiative to grow hotel earnings. EVT Connect Hospitality will further enhance EVT’s ability to deliver value for asset owners who seek to franchise a third-party brand, supported by the expertise of the PIH team and now boosted by the ability to leverage our extensive EVT Group expertise. We look forward to welcoming the PIH team to our Group.”

In other words: EVT has just strapped a turbocharger onto its hotel business and wants the world to know it’s ready to take bookings.

Industry reaction

For an outside view, CBRE’s Head of Hotels & Hospitality, Steve Carroll, applauded the deal, calling it “an exciting deal that will enhance the hotel operating environment across Asia Pacific.” He pointed out that third-party operating models have long thrived in North America and Europe, and EVT’s move could help fast-track that trend here.

Put more bluntly: EVT is importing a model the rest of the world swears by, which could change the competitive landscape across Australasia.

Why it matters

Third-party management isn’t new, but in Australia it’s still a relatively fresh flavour on the hospitality menu. It lets owners keep the badge above the door while outsourcing the headaches of day-to-day operations. EVT, with its existing hotels, resorts, and even cinema know-how (selling experiences is the same art whether it’s films or foyers), reckons it’s well placed to make this work.

For Pro-invest, the transaction unlocks focus and flexibility. For EVT, it’s a chance to plant its flag deeper into the region’s hospitality soil.

Final thoughts

This one has a little sparkle in a world where hotel deals often read like dusty legal documents. EVT, better known for Jaffas rolling down the cinema aisle, now wants to run your check-in desk. Pro-invest, never shy of reinvention, has handed over the keys but kept the deeds.

Guests may not see a difference when they swipe their room card, but investors, owners, and rival operators certainly will. EVT has made its intentions plain: it’s no longer content to play second fiddle in the hospitality orchestra. It wants centre stage.

And the truth is, if you can run a cinema full of teenagers on a Saturday night, you can probably handle a hotel.