NEW DELHI Duet India Hotels Group and IHG have signed a joint venture partnership for the development of 19 new Holiday Inn Express hotels across India by 2016.
IHG will invest through a 24% equity stake, making a multiyear investment of US$30 million into the partnership to support the building of the 19 hotels over the next five years. The Holiday Inn Express-flagged hotels will add approximately 3,300 guestrooms to IHG's current India development pipeline of 46 hotels and more than 10,000 guestrooms and are expected to be operational by 2016.
"This deal is a great example of our strategy in action—by investing a small amount of our own capital we have established a strategic relationship with a fantastic partner who knows the market, securing a future fee stream and opening up a huge opportunity for us to develop the Holiday Inn Express brand across India," says Richard Solomons, IHG's chief financial officer and head of commercial development. "With strong economic growth and an expanding middle class in India, we forecast strong future demand for midmarket and select-service hotels, cementing Holiday Inn Express' position as one of the fastest-growing brands in the hotel industry."
Upcoming Holiday Inn Express hotels will be primarily located in India's major metro areas and key secondary cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Overall, IHG is on track to have 150 hotels in India by 2020. There are currently four InterContinental properties, three Crowne Plazas and five Holiday Inns open in the country.
The Holiday Inn Express brand is among the industry's fastest-growing, opening an average of two hotels a week globally. There are now 2,075 Holiday Inn Express hotels open and 494 under development around the world. In India, more than 75% of IHG's pipeline is with the Holiday Inn family of brands.
Midscale hotels are the core focus of Duet's growing hotel business in India. "The midmarket hotel space in India offers a compelling investment proposition given favorable demand-supply dynamics and an attractive build-cost-to-operating-returns equation," says Duet Managing Partner Anuj Gupta. "The strategic partnership with IHG provides DIHL with a strong platform to tap the full potential of this opportunity."
IHG will invest through a 24% equity stake, making a multiyear investment of US$30 million into the partnership to support the building of the 19 hotels over the next five years. The Holiday Inn Express-flagged hotels will add approximately 3,300 guestrooms to IHG's current India development pipeline of 46 hotels and more than 10,000 guestrooms and are expected to be operational by 2016.
"This deal is a great example of our strategy in action—by investing a small amount of our own capital we have established a strategic relationship with a fantastic partner who knows the market, securing a future fee stream and opening up a huge opportunity for us to develop the Holiday Inn Express brand across India," says Richard Solomons, IHG's chief financial officer and head of commercial development. "With strong economic growth and an expanding middle class in India, we forecast strong future demand for midmarket and select-service hotels, cementing Holiday Inn Express' position as one of the fastest-growing brands in the hotel industry."
Upcoming Holiday Inn Express hotels will be primarily located in India's major metro areas and key secondary cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Overall, IHG is on track to have 150 hotels in India by 2020. There are currently four InterContinental properties, three Crowne Plazas and five Holiday Inns open in the country.
The Holiday Inn Express brand is among the industry's fastest-growing, opening an average of two hotels a week globally. There are now 2,075 Holiday Inn Express hotels open and 494 under development around the world. In India, more than 75% of IHG's pipeline is with the Holiday Inn family of brands.
Midscale hotels are the core focus of Duet's growing hotel business in India. "The midmarket hotel space in India offers a compelling investment proposition given favorable demand-supply dynamics and an attractive build-cost-to-operating-returns equation," says Duet Managing Partner Anuj Gupta. "The strategic partnership with IHG provides DIHL with a strong platform to tap the full potential of this opportunity."