InterContinental Hotels to sell stake in JV with Duet India

Company to increase inventory by four times in 10 years in India

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG), a British multinational hotel company, to divest its 24 per cent stake in its joint venture (JV) with Duet India Hotels (DIH). Currently the JV has four properties and has 19 in the pipeline.

IHG said it was also looking at increasing number of Holiday Inn hotels to 100-150 in the next 10 years.

The company on Saturday opened its 30th property, managed by it, in Chennai. The new Holiday Inn Expressway is a 202room property jointly promoted by Chennai-based SRP Tools and Bangalore-based Brigade Group and will be managed by IHG. Total investment in the project is estimated to be around Rs 150 crore.

With this addition, total inventory of IHG increased to around 5,500 in the country, said Shantha de Silva, Head of South West Asia.

In the next 10-15 years, the company plans to increase the total number of hotels to around 100-150 and increase inventory by four times.

IHG in India has four brands: InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, a luxury brand, Crowne Plaza, an upscale brand, Holiday Inn, a business hotel, and Holiday Inn Express, a budget hotel.

Around 90 per cent of the new projects will be under Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands, said Silva.

The company follows an assetlight model. “We follow an assetlight model due to which we have decided to divest our stake (in DIH).”

However he declined to share any financial details.

He added, IHG will continue to maintain the four properties under the JV and the upcoming 19 properties.

The JV, with the hotel investment arm of global asset manager Duet Group, was formed in April 2011 to develop Holiday Inn Express hotels across India.

To date, after US and China, India is the third-largest market for IHG globally and the company is bullish about the opportunity in the country, he added.