The past two decades saw merger and acquisition activities involving real estate and hospitality players in Singapore like Scotts Holdings, Pidemco Land, Somerset International, Liang Court Holdings, Stamford Group and DBS Land, as well as Citadines, an established hospitality brand in Europe. These developments eventually led to the establishment of The Ascott Limited (Ascott), the world's largest international serviced residence owner-operator with more than 200 properties in 90 cities spanning 25 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Gulf region. As a measure of its success, the company established the world's first pan-Asian serviced residence real estate investment trust, the Ascott Residence Trust, which was listed in 2006. In 2008, Ascott became a wholly-owned serviced residence subsidiary of CapitaLand, one of Asia's largest real estate companies. In 2014, Ascott celebrates 30 years in the serviced residence business.