IHG grows luxury footprint with Six Senses acquisition

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has extended its reach to a community of affluent travellers with the acquisition of luxury hotel, resort and spa operator Six Senses.

The US$300 million cash acquisition from Pegasus Capital Advisors includes all of Six Senses’ brands and operating companies, but does not include any real estate assets.

Six Senses currently manages 16 hotels and resorts in locations such as the Maldives, the Seychelles, Yao Noi in Thailand, Zighy Bay in Oman, and Portugal’s Douro Valley.

The luxury operator also has 18 management contracts signed into its pipeline, and more than 50 further deals under active discussion.

Six Senses will sit at the top of IHG’s luxury portfolio, and will complement InterContinental Hotels & Resorts; the recently acquired and repositioned Regent Hotels & Resorts; and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, for which IHG has secured a presence in 14 countries, since its acquisition of the brand in 2015.

The acquisition of Six Senses takes IHG’s portfolio of open and pipeline luxury hotels to 400 hotels (108,000 rooms) globally.

IHG is aiming to grow the Six Senses estate to more than 60 properties globally over the next 10 years. This includes bringing Six Senses to urban markets, with a property already under construction in West Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City.

Keith Barr, chief executive of IHG, said: “Six Senses is an outstanding brand in the top-tier of luxury and one we’ve admired for some time. You only have to look at its iconic hotels and resorts to see how this acquisition will further round out our luxury offer.

“With a focus on wellness and sustainability, Six Senses has been voted the world’s top hotel brand for the past two years, which is testament to its impressive management team who bring deep experience to IHG’s luxury operations.”

Barr said Six Senses’ development pipeline provides IHG with a platform for high-quality growth.

“With the power of the IHG enterprise, we believe we can expand Six Senses to more than 60 properties globally over the next decade. This acquisition continues the progress we’ve made against the strategic initiatives we outlined a year ago, which included a commitment to adding new brands in the fast-growing US$60 billion luxury segment.

Six senses CEO Neil Jacobs said: “An outstanding business has been built over the past 20 years, and a respected portfolio of hotels and resorts, with wellness and sustainability at their heart.

“This distinct proposition and the popularity of our award-winning estate, combined with IHG’s scale, systems and expertise gives us the opportunity to accelerate Six Senses’ global growth.”

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