Homeinns Hotel Group to merge with BTG Hotels Group: Homeinns Hotel Group announced Monday it entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger with BTG Hotels Group Holdings Company, according to a news release. BTG will acquire Homeinns for cash consideration of $17.90 per ordinary share of Homeinns or $35.80 in cash per American depositary share. The release states this is a 18.7% premium over the closing price of $30.17 per American depositary share on 10 June 2015.
BTG Hotels and its parent company will fund the merger through proceeds from a committed loan facility of up to $1.2 billion from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, according to the release.
Analysts speculate the hotel industry can expect to see a number of moves toward consolidation in the near future.
Pandox AB to acquire 18 hotels in Germany: Pandox AB, which owns hotel properties in several Northern European countries, has agreed to purchase 18 hotels in Germany for €400 million ($432.4 million) from the Leopard Group and Fattal Hotels. The group of hotels in the deal includes full-service, upper mid-market hotels in 12 German cities, HNN’s Sean McCracken writes.
The purchase adds 3,415 rooms to Pandox’s total of more than 25,000 rooms and its number of hotels to 121. The acquisition also will increase the value of the company’s portfolio from 27.7 billion Swedish Krona ($3.2 billion) to 31.4 Swedish Krona ($3.7 billion).
“This is exactly fitting with our strategies,” Pandox CEO Anders Nissen said during a conference call announcing the deal.
Brands see success with Chinese programs: Programs aimed at Chinese travelers remain popular with brands because they’ve been shown to attract new customers and retain business. Spain-based Meliá Hotels International is one of the latest hotel companies to create such a program, writes HNN’s Bryan Wroten.
The programs include having staff learn Mandarin to better communicate with Chinese guests and offering Chinese foods in its breakfast buffets. General managers for both InterContinental Hotels Group and Hilton Worldwide Holdings believe the programs are relatively easy to implement and result in a growth in bookings.
“We’ve had the three strongest years in a row in history,” said Michael Dunne, area GM of five Hilton properties in San Francisco. “As a city, and as that international lift from China has grown, we’ve held the transient side and the group side.”
Shares in Europe rise with weakened euro: A weaker euro helped European shares rise at the start of the day, Reuters reports, alongside improved investor confidence in a stronger U.S. dollar.
The news agency reports that investors were disappointed by the European Central Bank’s move last week to stimulate growth and inflation but are hopeful about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week, at which they expect the reserve to announce an increase in interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.
Oil prices fall to lowest in almost seven years: After the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting ended 4 December without an agreement on production cuts and an output ceiling, oil prices fell to their lowest since March 2009, Reuters reports. The stronger U.S. dollar also made holding crude positions more expensive.
Prices traded down 92 cents at $42.08 a barrel and touched a low of $41.77, the lowest in almost seven years.
“Past communiques have at least included statements to adhere, strictly adhere, or maintain output in line with the production target,” Reuters reports Barclays analysts as saying. “This one glaringly did not.”
Low oil prices have proven to be a consistent drag for hotel performance in oil and gas focused areas.
Compiled by Bryan Wroten.