Chinese hotel giant Jin Jiang International said that the company agreed to buy 80% stake in Vienna Hotels Group, according to an announcement on April 28.
An undisclosed source said eariler in the day that Jin Jiang has completed its full acquisition of Vienna Hotels Group. The deal is worth RMB 1.7 billion and is yet another deal in Jin Jiang’s ongoing shopping spree, following its purchase of French hotel group Louvre and leading economy and mid-tier hotel chain Plateno.
The Shenzhen-based Vienna Hotels Group was founded in 1993 as a major boutique business hotel chain. It currently has more than 500 three- to five-star properties in more than 100 cities in China operating under six brands including Vienna Hotel, Vienna Royal Hotel and Vienna Apartment.
After the Louvre Hotel acquisition, Jin Jiang was still actively making global purchases. The major Chinese state-owned hotelier raised its shareholding of AccorHotels twice earlier this year and became the French operator’s largest shareholder. Bloomberg reported on April 12 that Jin Jiang might be considering to boost its Accor stake up to 20% in order to gain more influence in the French hotel’s management. The head of AccorHotels said on April 22 that having Chinese hotel giant Jin Jiang as its top shareholder would help the French hotelier accelerate its expansion.
Jin Jiang, as China’s leading hotel group, has had its M&A strategy well mapped out for the past decade – the first step was setting up China’s first-generation web-based Central Reservation System, then it introduced world-class management solutions by privatizing American hotel management company Interstate. The hotel group is now on a shopping spree domestically and globally to further enhance its leading position in China and its globalization pace. (Translated by Jerry)
