Investment Group to Open 15 Holiday Inn Express Hotels in Australia

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Pro Invest Group Commits to Develop Initial Portfolio of Holiday Inn Express Hotels totalling 2100 bedrooms; First Hotel Confirmed for North Ryde, Sydney.

Sydney, Australia, 25 July 2013IHG (InterContinental Hotel Group) today announced that 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 an initial 15 Holiday Inn Express hotels, totalling approximately 2,100 rooms, in central business, suburban and airport 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 autumn of 2014.

Holiday Inn Express is the smart choice for value-conscious business and leisure travellers. Fresh, clean and uncomplicated, Holiday Inn Express is for guests on the go, offering them exactly what they need – a great night’s sleep in a high quality hotel with free breakfast and free Wi-Fi. Holiday Inn Express North Ryde will offer 190 rooms to meet the growing demand from the local business community for quality accommodation at a smart price.

The principal of Pro Invest Group, Ronald Barrott, has been a strong partner for the brand, having already developed a portfolio of Holiday Inn Express properties in Europe in the 1990s and early 2000s with Stannifer Hotels. As Founder, CEO and Chairman of the company, Barrott led Stannifer to become one of the UK’s largest and most successful select service hotel groups.

Ronald Barrott, principal of Pro Invest said, “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. We believe now is the time to grow this brand in the market and travellers will certainly benefit from having one of the world’s biggest hotel brands to choose from.

“My previous experience in the UK tells me this partnership with IHG will be a long and successful one, and that there is plenty of opportunity to grow this initial portfolio of 15 Holiday Inn Express hotels to become many more in the years to come.”

IHG Asia, Middle East and Africa CEO, Jan Smits continued “The announcement of this investment fund comes at a great time for IHG in Australia. 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. Pro Invest’s portfolio will launch with the opening of Holiday Inn Express North Ryde in autumn 2014.

“We have established a strong hotel franchising model to provide owners and investors in Australia, such as Pro Invest, with a reliable and profitable alternative to our equally-successful management model. This is an exciting example of the growth and development of IHG in this market, and a strong sign of confidence in IHG’s offering.”

There are currently 30 hotels open operating under IHG’s InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands in Australia. First launched in 1991, the Holiday Inn Express brand has now grown to more than 2,200 hotels worldwide – the biggest brand within the IHG estate. A further 450 hotels are due to open in the next three to five years.

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