InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is considering selling its remaining 25 hotels, valued at £1 bn, among which its top-four 'trophy assets', the London, Paris, New York and Hong Kong hotels. In 2006, the hotels group sold 31 Continental European Hotels, valued at £680 mln, in a steadily continued sell-off pressured by shareholders.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is considering selling its remaining 25 hotels, valued at £1 bn, among which its top-four 'trophy assets', the London, Paris, New York and Hong Kong hotels. In 2006, the hotels group sold 31 Continental European Hotels, valued at £680 mln, in a steadily continued sell-off pressured by shareholders.
'IHG's strategy envisages a reduction in capital intensity and the return of surplus funds to shareholders', the company has said in its full-year results report. It has also announced a return of £850 mln of surplus cash to its shareholders. The group will return the cash via a £700 mln special dividend payment and a £150 mln share buy-back programme.
Since its demerger from Six Continents in March 2004, the firm has kept selling its property assets, retaining the management contracts and returning a total of £3.6 bn to its shareholders.
IHG, the world's largest hotel company by number of rooms, has currently 148 hotels, under brands including Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, but the property assets disposals have left it owning only 25 hotel sites. To date, the group had been persistently playing down rumours of the disposal of its last assets.