Intercontinental offloads another hotel for $56m

20th Jun 2011 14:22

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has sold - but will continue to manage - the 210-room Hotel Indigo San Diego to Chesapeake Lodging Trust for $55.5m (around £34.2m), in line with its strategy to grow its management and franchise businesses whilst reducing capital intensity.The divestment will be in addition to the $5.7bn of capital IHG has already released since 2003 through the sale of 187 hotels and the divestment of equity stakes, the company said.Over the same eight-year period, IHG has returned almost $6bn to its shareholders.The hotel will be the third sold since the start of 2011, contributing to the $140m already made through disposals and equity divestments in the year-to-date. IHG owns the Crowne Plaza- and Holiday Inn-branded hotels."The sale of the Hotel Indigo San Diego is another great example of our asset light strategy and brand building in action," said IHG's incoming chief executive Richard Solomons."We are now able to recycle the capital to develop our brands, for example through the recently announced joint venture with Brack Capital Real Estate to develop a Hotel Indigo hotel on the Lower East Side of Manhattan," he said.Shares were trading 0.34% down at 1,161p as of Monday afternoon.---BC