InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced that the international investment company, Pro Invest Group, has established a $150 million fund to develop a portfolio of 15 Holiday Inn Express hotels across Australia.
Pro Invest has created a property development and hotel operating company to build and operate the initial hotels⎯⎯totaling approximately 2,150 rooms⎯⎯in central locations in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Brisbane. IHG will enter into franchise agreements for each of the hotels under a multiple development agreement signed between the two companies. The first hotel will open at Macquarie Park in North Ryde, Sydney in the fall of 2014.
“This fund is comprised of a group of offshore investors, all who see the potential of investing in both the Holiday Inn Express brand, and Australia,” says Ronald Barrott, principal of Pro Invest. “We believe now is the time to grow this brand in the market and travelers will certainly benefit from having one of the world’s biggest hotel brands to choose from.”
There are currently 30 hotels open operating under IHG’s InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza, and Holiday Inn brands in Australia. A further 450 hotels are due to open globally in the next three to five years.
“The announcement of this investment fund comes at a great time for IHG in Australia,” says Jan Smits, CEO of IHG Asia, Middle East, and Africa. “Our current hotel brands here⎯⎯InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, and Holiday Inn⎯⎯are already well-known and regarded by our hotel owners, and Holiday Inn Express is a welcome addition. We announced our first signing under this brand earlier this year and that hotel will open in Perth, Western Australia in 2015.”
