NH Hotel is about to change ownership. After acquiring 9.5 % of the Spanish hotel group's shares last May, Thailand's Minor International has just announced the purchase of the shares held by HNA, the parent company of Hainan Airlines and also a shareholder in Aigle Azur, Tap Portugal and Azul. This represents 25.2%, which will provide some liquidity to the Chinese tourism conglomerate, which is heavily in debt and which should also divest its shares (26.1 %) of the Hilton Group. In the meantime, Minor International is preparing to launch a takeover bid to gain majority control, the outcome of which is expected within the next five months.
With the acquisition of NH Hotel, this key leisure group in the Asia-Pacific region, which started out with its first resort in Pattaya in 1978, will further strengthen its hotel business. Minor International owns more than 2,000 restaurants in Asia, including Pizza Company and Burger King, as well as numerous lifestyle brand shops such as Gap and Banana Republic. a portfolio of 161 hotels in 26 countries. While most of them operate under the Group's own brands Anantara, Avani, Oaks and ElewanaOthers are managed on behalf of other brands such as Marriott, Four Seasons, St Regis and Radisson Blu. Finally, Minor International's portfolio also includes Tivoli hotels, a Portuguese group acquired in 2015.
Although Minor International already had a presence in Europe through Tivoli, its footprint on the continent and in Latin America will be greatly expanded, since the NH group now has 382 establishments and 59,350 rooms in 30 countries, and is actively developing its upmarket NH Collection brand as well as its lifestyle brand nhow. "We are entering a new erawith a financial strategy that cements our stake in the European hotel industrysaid Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotels. We will be able to create a network of 540 hotels across Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. This collaboration will enable both companies to capitalise on their dominant positions in key regions with complementary brands, cutting-edge technology and personnel."
As far as NH Hotel is concerned, this acquisition puts an end to a long period of uncertainty during which the group's management has maintained stormy relations with its majority shareholder, particularly since the takeover of Carlson Rezidor by HNA in 2016. This led to the exclusion of several board members appointed by HNA, including the CEO Federico Gonzalez Tejera. Concerned about its independence, NH's management had also rejected the merger offer from the Spanish group Barcelo, which had indicated its willingness to take over the shares of Chinese conglomerate HNA in November 2017. Without prejudging the reaction of NH's management to this takeover, the arrival of Minor International, which has little presence in NH Hotel's key markets, is undoubtedly a more favourable solution than a merger with a direct national competitor or absorption by a global group such as Radisson.
