LEADING Spanish hotel chain Iberostar Hotels & Resorts is expanding into Asia, after signing a management and consultancy agreement with Corbis Group, a private equity, corporate investment and development firm based in Barcelona.

As part of the deal, 10 properties will enter Iberostar’s hotel portfolio, include five under the Casas y Palacios de España brand in Spain, and The Royal Phuket Yacht Club and yet-to-be-opened Hotel Summer Palace in Phuket.

Iberostar is expected to take over the management of the 110-room Royal Phuket Yacht Club in 4Q2012, with Hotel Summer Palace and several other new build properties set to join over the next two years.

Iberostar’s global footprint already extends across 15 countries, including in Europe, North and West Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean, but with no further plans for Asia at present.

Corbis, which recently launched Arcus Corporación to encompass its hotel and property interests, said the agreement with Iberostar would enable it to tap the “support and experience of an international (hotel) chain” to improve the quality of its hotel investments.