IHG expands Greater London portfolio

The expansion of InterContinental Hotels (IHG) has moved up a gear, with the company confirming it has purchased two more hotels in the Greater London area.

But investors were unimpressed with the move and despite the share price of the firm rising in the early stages of trading this morning (April 2nd), the gains were wiped out later in the day.

IHG announced that it has bought both the Hotel Indigo London – Barbican and Holiday Inn – Watford Junction, meaning that the company now has all six of its current European brands in its Greater London pipeline. The firm already runs InterContinental London – The O2, Crowne Plaza London – Albert Embankment, Staybridge Suites London – Vauxhall and Holiday Inn Express London – Ealing.

Holiday Inn Watford Junction will be a 92-room property, while the Hotel Indigo London – Barbican is set to have 101 rooms and will run under a franchise agreement with longstanding owner partner Sanguine, which already works with IHG to operate a number of UK hotels.

Chief executive of IHG in Europe Angela Brav stated that the news all six of the company's current European brands now have a presence in Greater London is "just fantastic", while she also highlighted that it "demonstrates the continued momentum in the market".

She said: "We see plenty of room to grow here and these signings demonstrate the ability of our brands to penetrate markets across Europe both old and new. IHG's relationship with our owners is absolutely key in maintaining long-term sustainable development and I'm thrilled to see us all growing together."

Partner brands

IHG has a broader family of nine brands in nearly 100 countries and works with operators such as Sanguine and Nine Hospitality, which will run Holiday Inn Watford Junction.

Sanguine chairman Simon Matthews-Williams said: "This is our first flurry into London and demonstrates our confidence in the brand and complements our other Hotel Indigo projects in Liverpool, Birmingham, Newcastle and Manchester."

Although IHG shares rose early this morning, by 13:39 BST they were only 0.14 per cent up compared to the start of the trading session on the London Stock Exchange.

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