Two Japan-based companies have acquired a 10 percent stake in the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hawaii.

High-end furniture seller Sala Azabu Co. and real estate developer Ken Corp. recently purchased a minority stake in the 364-room, luxury hotel, said Jon Miho, co-founder of Trinity Investments LLC, whose affiliate purchased the Kahala Mandarin last year.

Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Ken Corp., which was founded in 1972, is a major hotel developer in Japan and the U.S. Last year, the company acquired the Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe Resort in Nevada.

Sala Azabu is one of the largest retailers of high-end furniture in Japan, according to Nikkei Business Daily.

Locally based Trinity recently acquired the Kahala Mandarin through an affiliated company from Japanese commodities executive Katsumi Iida's Kahala Royal Corp.

Terms of Trinity's purchase were not disclosed but the Nikkei Business Daily estimated that the hotel sold for about $170 million.

The investment by Sala Azabu and Ken Corp. comes as the new owners said they plan to invest several million dollars for the hotel's first major upgrade in a decade.

The new owners also are discussing management terms with the hotel's current operator, Mandarin Oriental.

Mandarin had held a 40 percent interest in the Kahala Mandarin until last summer when it sold its stake to Kahala Royal for $97 million.

Built in 1964 on leasehold land owned by the Kamehameha Schools, the Kahala Mandarin is O'ahu's only AAA 5-Diamond resort.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.