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, Stamford Group and DBS Land. These developments eventually led to the establishment of The Ascott Group, the largest serviced residence owner-operator outside the United States, with a global presence spanning over 50 cities around the world. As a measure of its success, the Group established the world's first pan-Asian serviced residence real estate investment trust (REIT), the Ascott Residence Trust which was listed in 2006.

1984	Scotts Holdings, a well-known Singapore corporation with business interests in serviced apartments, shopping centres and property investments, opened Asia Pacific's first branded serviced residence – The Ascott Singapore.
1991	Scotts Holdings was listed in Singapore.
1998	Pidemco Land* set up Somerset International, its new serviced residence arm.
1999	Somerset International acquireed Liang Court Holdings, one of Asia's largest serviced residence operators, to form Somerset Holdings. Together, these two companies had a combined portfolio of 3,200 serviced residence units in 15 cities. Scotts Holdings merged with Stamford Group, the serviced residence arm of DBS Land* to form The Ascott Limited, creating a joint portfolio of more than 1,700 units in eight cities.
2001	The Ascott Group Limited was listed following the merger of Somerset Holdings and The Ascott Limited in year 2000. The Group’s total portfolio hit over 6,000 serviced residence units in 16 cities across 10 countries.
2002	Ascott acquired a 50 percent stake in Citadines, a pan-European serviced residence chain with over 5,000 units in 18 cities across France, the UK, Belgium, Spain and Germany. This increased Ascott's portfolio to over 13,800 units in 39 cities across 16 countries, making it the largest international serviced residence operator outside the US.
2004	Ascott completed acquisition of the remaining 50 percent interest in Citadines. The Ascott Group now owns the three brands: Ascott, Somerset and Citadines.
2005	Ascott's global footprint expanded to 17 countries with the opening of Somerset Palace, Seoul, South Korea's largest serviced residence. Ascott signd a MOU with Bahrain-based Addax Investment Bank to launch at least 15 properties across the Gulf region and North Africa by 2010.
2006	The world's first pan-Asian serviced residence REIT, the Ascott Residence Trust (ART), was established and listed on 31 March 2006 in Singapore. In addition, Ascott's global presence expanded in the Gulf region and India, bringing its presence to 46 cities across 20 countries.
2007	Ascott adds Russia, Kazakhstan and Georgia to its global portfolio – boosting its presence to 23 countries.
2008	Ascott expands its presence in Australia with its first Citadines in the country. The 398-unit Citadines Melbourne on Bourke will be Ascott's largest Citadines serviced residence. Ascott becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand, the largest listed real estate company in Southeast Asia by market capitalisation. Ascott enters new city in Australia with Somerset St Georges Terrace, Perth.

* DBS Land and Pidemco Land merged in 2000 to form CapitaLand Limited. The Ascott Group is a member of CapitaLand Limited.