Vladislav Doronin's OKO Group and South Korea's Shinsegae conglomerate closed a $500 million joint venture structure to develop Aman properties and attached branded residences across unspecified "key markets." The deal, confirmed in mid-July, marks the first time Aman has formalized a multi-territory capital partnership of this scale with a single retail-to-construction partner. Shinsegae owns South Korea's largest department-store network, the Centum City mega-development in Busan, and has been testing luxury hospitality through its Josun Palace chain since 2017. Doronin acquired Aman in 2014 for roughly $400 million and has spent the decade since expanding from 34 properties to a development pipeline nearing 60, half of which carry residential components.
The joint venture operates as a co-development vehicle, not a franchise licensing agreement. Shinsegae brings site control, construction management, and local permitting infrastructure in South Korea and Southeast Asia; OKO contributes the Aman brand, design oversight, and operational playbooks for ultra-luxury residences. Neither party disclosed equity splits, but industry participants familiar with similar structures estimate Shinsegae holds between 55% and 65% of the venture, with OKO retaining brand-management fees and long-term asset-management economics. The $500 million figure represents committed capital for the first wave of projects, not total expected development cost. Actual spending will run higher once land acquisition, construction, and pre-opening expenses are factored in. The partnership has not yet named specific cities, but Shinsegae's existing land bank in Busan, Seoul, and Jeju suggests South Korea anchors the initial tranche.
The move accelerates a structural shift within Aman's business model. For three decades, Aman operated as a curator of singular properties in remote or culturally protected locations—Bhutan, the Maldives, Laos. Under Doronin, the brand has grafted branded residences onto nearly every new opening, converting hotel guests into unit buyers and transforming one-time visitors into recurring capital sources. Aman New York, which opened in 2022 at Crown Building, sold 22 residences at an average of $32 million per unit, generating roughly $700 million in sales before the hotel accepted its first guest. The Shinsegae partnership extends this logic into a repeatable, capital-light format: the joint venture finances construction, Aman licenses its name and design standards, and both parties split sales proceeds. The structure resembles what Four Seasons and Rosewood deployed in the 2010s, though Aman enters the game with a narrower brand footprint and a higher per-square-foot sales premium.
Shinsegae's participation offers three tactical advantages. First, the group owns construction subsidiaries capable of delivering projects 12 to 18 months faster than third-party general contractors, a critical edge in markets where permitting windows shift unpredictably. Second, Shinsegae controls retail and F&B distribution networks across South Korea, providing built-in demand for Aman-branded amenities and reducing the need for external tenant sourcing. Third, the partnership gives Aman access to Shinsegae's Busan Centum City development, a 3.2-million-square-foot mixed-use complex that already includes office, retail, and residential towers. Embedding an Aman property into an existing mega-development reduces site-acquisition risk and shortens the path to occupancy. It also positions Aman to compete directly with Rosewood and Bulgari, both of which have announced South Korean expansions in the past 18 months.
Allocators and hospitality developers should track three events. First, whether the joint venture announces a Busan or Seoul project by the fourth quarter of 2024; that timing would align with Shinsegae's typical development cadence. Second, whether OKO Group raises additional capital in the next 12 months to fund Aman expansions outside the Shinsegae partnership; the $500 million commitment covers only co-developed projects, leaving OKO's solo pipeline underfunded. Third, whether Aman begins licensing its name to projects it does not operationally control, a step that would push the brand into pure IP monetization and away from its historical insistence on design and service oversight. That shift would mirror what happened to St. Regis and Edition between 2015 and 2020.
The partnership closes as Aman opens its first Mexico property in Los Cabos and prepares debuts in Saudi Arabia and Miami Beach by 2025. The brand now operates 38 properties and has 22 under construction or in advanced planning. Shinsegae's most recent earnings report, released in June, showed a 9.2% year-over-year increase in operating income from its construction and real-estate division, driven largely by residential pre-sales. The joint venture allows both parties to allocate capital without competing for the same buyers.
The takeaway
Aman's **$500M** Shinsegae partnership converts the brand from boutique hotelier to scalable residence manufacturer, South Korea first.
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