1st Sep 2005 07:06
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC01 September 2005 INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP SALE OF 10 HOTELS IN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND FIJI FOR A$405 MILLION (£170MILLION) (LONDON) 1 September 2005-InterContinental Hotels Group PLC ("IHG") todayannounced it has sold nine hotels in Australia and New Zealand to Eureka FundsManagement Ltd ("Eureka"), for A$390 million (£164 million) in cash (beforetransaction costs), above the net book value of A$315 million (£133 million). IHG has also sold a further hotel, Holiday Inn, Suva, to FNPF Investment Limited(FIL) the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Fiji National Provident Fund ("FNPF")for A$15 million (£6 million) in cash, bringing the total sale price of the tenhotels to A$405 million (£170 million). IHG will continue to manage the hotels for Eureka and FNPF under ten yearmanagement contracts, each with an option to extend for ten further years atIHG's discretion. Management fees in the first full year are expected to be ca.US$4 million. The transactions are expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2005.Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. The ten hotels (2,310 rooms) were placed on the market in April 2005 as part ofIHG's continuing asset disposal programme. They consist of InterContinentalWellington in New Zealand, three Crowne Plaza hotels in Australia, five HolidayInn hotels in Australia and Holiday Inn Suva in Fiji. Andrew Cosslett, Chief Executive, IHG commented: "The team in Australia havesecured a deal which has resulted in transaction terms beyond our initialexpectations and attractive long term contracts. We are delighted to beestablishing long term relationships with business partners of the calibre ofEureka and FNPF. They join a growing group of leading investors world wide, whohave demonstrated their faith in InterContinental Hotels Group brands andexpertise." Bob Kelly, Managing Director of Eureka, stated: "The transaction reflects theincreased acceptance of the hotel sector by its institutional investors. We lookforward to a strong relationship with InterContinental Hotels Group. The branddiversity, location spread and strong business foundation which have been laidby the Group through its ownership and management over the years were the keyattractions of the portfolio of hotels to Eureka." Transaction details 1. IHG has sold nine (9) hotels to Eureka Funds Management Ltd for a total saleprice of A$390 million (£164 million) (before transaction costs), above net bookvalue of A$315 million (£133 million). 2. IHG has sold Holiday Inn Suva to the Fiji National Provident Fund for F$19million (£6 million). Net book value of this asset was £5 million. 3. No tax charge arises and no cash tax is expected to be payable as a resultof these transactions. 4. Management fees in first full year expected to be ca. US$4 million 5. Since Separation in April 2003, including today's announcement, IHG will havedisposed of 136 hotels with proceeds of £2.0 billion. Nine properties remain onthe market with a net book value of ca. £220 million. Sales announced today: 10 hotels, 2,310 rooms, net proceeds of £170 million: 2004 2003 US$ US$Revenue 113 97EBITDA 27 23EBIT 16 15 Hotel RoomsInterContinental Wellington, New Zealand 231Crowne Plaza Canberra 295Crowne Plaza Coogee Beach 207Crowne Plaza Terrigal 196Holiday Inn Melbourne 383Holiday Inn on Flinders, Melbourne 200Holiday Inn City Centre Perth 181Holiday Inn Potts Point 288Holiday Inn Townsville 199Holiday Inn Suva 130 For further information, please contact: Investor Relations (Gavin Flynn/Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson): +44 (0) 1753 410 176 +44 (0) 7808 098 972Media Affairs (Leslie McGibbon): +44 (0) 1753 410 425 +44 (0) 7808 094 471 Note to Editors: InterContinental Hotels Group PLC of the United Kingdom (LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG(ADRs)) is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. InterContinentalHotels Group owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries,more than 3,500 hotels and 535,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries andterritories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognised andrespected hotel brands including InterContinental(R) Hotels & Resorts, CrownePlaza(R) Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn(R) Hotels and Resorts, Holiday InnExpress(R), Staybridge Suites(R), Candlewood Suites(R) and Hotel IndigoTM, andalso manages the world's largest hotel loyalty programme, Priority Club(R)Rewards, with over 24 million members worldwide. In addition to this,InterContinental Hotels Group has a 47.5% interest in Britvic, one of the twoleading manufacturers of soft drinks, by value and volume, in Great Britain. InterContinental Hotels Group offers information and online reservations for allits hotel brands at www.ichotelsgroup.com and information for the Priority ClubRewards programme at www.priorityclub.com For the latest news from InterContinental Hotels Group, visit our online PressOffice at www.ihgplc.com/media Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements as defined underUS law (Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934). Theseforward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relateto historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements often use words suchas ' target', 'expect', 'intend', 'believe' or other words of similar meaning.By their nature, forward-looking statements are inherently predictive,speculative and involve risk and uncertainty. There are a number of factors thatcould cause actual results and developments to differ materially from thoseexpressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that couldaffect the business and the financial results are described in "Risk Factors" inthe InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with theUnited States Securities and Exchange Commission. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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