type public traded as lse ihg nyse ihg industry conglomerate hotels founded 2003 april 15 origins trace back to 1777 headquarters denham buckinghamshire united kingdom key people patrick cescau chairman richard solomons ceo services hospitality revenue 1 803 million 2015 1 operating income 680 million 2015 1 net income 1 224 million 2015 1 number of employees 7 311 2015 2 divisions candlewood suites crowne plaza even hotels holiday inn holiday inn express hotel indigo ihg army hotels intercontinental staybridge suites website www.ihgplc.com intercontinental hotels group plc informally intercontinental hotels or ihg is a british multinational hotels company headquartered in denham uk . 3 ihg has over 742 000 rooms and 5 028 hotels across nearly 100 countries . 4 its brands include candlewood suites crowne plaza even holiday inn holiday inn express hotel indigo hualuxe intercontinental and staybridge suites . 5 of the 4 602 hotels 3 934 operate under franchise agreements 658 are managed by the company but separately owned and 10 are directly owned . 6 contents 1 history 1.1 bass hotels 1.2 intercontinental 2 operations 3 criticism 4 brands 5 notable properties 6 references 7 external links history edit bass hotels edit the origins of intercontinental hotels group can be traced back to 1777 when william bass established the bass brewery in burton upon trent . in 1876 its red triangle trademark was the first registered in the united kingdom . 7 in 1989 the british government limited the number of pubs which brewers could directly own resulting in bass investing in the expansion of its small line of hotels . in 1990 it purchased holiday inn international from kemmons wilson and expanded into north america . 7 intercontinental edit pan american airways founder juan trippe established the intercontinental brand as a division of panam and opened the first hotel in bel m brazil in 1946 . on august 19 1981 panam sold holding company intercontinental hotels corporation ihc to uk based grand metropolitan for 500 million . as grandmet focused its core business and expanded into fast food through the purchase of burger king it sold ihc to japanese based saison group in 1988 . 7 in march 1998 saison group sold ihc to british brewery bass which traces its roots back to 1777 when william bass established the bass brewery in burton upon trent . in 1988 in reaction to the british government limiting the number of pubs which brewers could directly own bass invested in the expansion of its small line of hotels . in 2000 bass sold its brewing assets and the rights to the bass name to the major belgian brewer interbrew for 2.3 billion and changed its name to six continents . 7 in 2003 the independent corporation intercontinental hotels group ihg was created after six continents split into two companies mitchells & butlers took control of the restaurant assets 8 and ihg focusing on hotels and soft drinks . 7 ihg retained britvic the soft drinks division until december 2005 when it sold its interest in the company by an initial public offering . 9 in april may 2014 the company reportedly rejected a 10 billion takeover bid from an unknown suitor believed to be starwood . 10 operations edit the company worldwide headquarters and europe offices are in denham buckinghamshire in england . 11 12 the americas office is in dunwoody georgia in greater atlanta . 11 13 the asia middle east and africa offices are in singapore . the greater china offices are in pudong shanghai . 11 a 4 star upmarket holiday inn in belfast city centre atrium interior at the holiday inn sarasota airport in sarasota fl another 3.5 4 star upmarket holiday inn an uptown houston hotel indigo intercontinental boston in 2006 ihg and lend lease group lend lease us public partnerships joined forces in the privatization of army lodging program . 14 ihg army hotels is a division of ihg that manages on post hotels and lodgings in 39 different locations in the u.s. including puerto rico . 15 criticism edit the intercontinental hotels group became the target of an international boycott campaign in may 2013 over their plan to operate an intercontinental brand luxury hotel in lhasa tibet . according to campaigners from the free tibet campaign the hotel was a pr coup for the chinese government . 16 brands edit candlewood suites crowne plaza holiday inn hotels & resorts 17 the number two hotel brand in the world by number of rooms 18 holiday inn club vacations 19 holiday inn express formerly known as express by holiday inn in europe middle east africa asia pacific and south america 20 hotel indigo intercontinental staybridge suites in february 2012 ihg announced plans for a new wellbeing based concept called even hotels 21 and in march 2012 a new luxury concept called hualuxe to be rolled out initially in china . 22 16 december 2014 ihg announced it would acquire kimpton hotels & restaurants for 430 million in cash . ihg plans to retain the kimpton brand within the u.s. and expand it globally . the combined ihg kimpton portfolio will create the world s largest boutique hotel business . 23 24 notable properties edit the crowne plaza liverpool john lennon airport is the former terminal building of liverpool speke airport constructed in the 1930s and used until 1986 . its notable art deco features led to its listing as a heritage building and subsequent adaption as a hotel . 25 the hotel in the wilshire grand tower under construction in downtown los angeles will be the largest intercontinental in the americas and the tallest building in los angeles . 26 references edit a b c preliminary results for the year to 31 december 2015 pdf . intercontinental hotels group plc. retrieved 25 march 2016 . number of employees of the intercontinental hotel group ihg from 2007 to 2015 . statista . retrieved 25 march 2016 . intercontinental hotels group plc ads . the wall street journal . retrieved 1 september 2014 . ihg overview . intercontinental hotels group . retrieved 10 march 2014 . profile intercontinental hotels group plc ihg . reuters . retrieved 1 september 2014 . annual report 2012 pdf . ihg . retrieved 28 july 2013 . a b c d e intercontinental hotels history . ihgplc.com . 1 march 2011 . retrieved 18 april 2011 . our history . mitchells & butlers . retrieved 2011 08 26 . nick golding 12 january 2005 . britvic ipo sees staff get 750 shares each . employee benefits group . retrieved 2011 08 26 . intercontinental refuses a takeover bid worth 10bn claims report . international travel news . retrieved 26 may 2014 . a b c contact us . intercontinental hotels group . archived from the original on 17 august 2014 . global headquarters and europe office intercontinental hotels group plc broadwater park denham buckinghamshire ub9 5hr uk denham location map . intercontinental hotels group . archived from the original pdf on 17 august 2014 . retrieved 2014 12 15 . ihg broadwater park north orbital road denham buckinghamshire ub9 5hr map of dunwoody . city of dunwoody . retrieved 29 september 2010 . privatized army lodging . retrieved 24 april 2014 . ihg army hotels portfolio to reach 39 u.s. military installations . hotel management . retrieved 24 april 2014 . the guardian 24 may 2013 tibetan activists launch boycott of intercontinental over hotel plans accessed 15 july 2013 intercontinental hotels group plc our brands holiday inn hotels & resorts . ihgplc.com . 4 april 2011 . retrieved 18 april 2011 . the top 43 hotel brands ranked by number of rooms . hotel online . 3 september 2010 . retrieved 2011 08 26 . ihg plc holiday inn club vacations fact sheet pdf . retrieved 18 april 2011 . intercontinental hotels group plc our brands holiday inn express . ihgplc.com . 4 april 2011 . retrieved 18 april 2011 . de lollis barbara 28 february 2012 . ihg launches health and fitness oriented hotel brand . usa today . retrieved 12 april 2012 . ihg targets chinese consumer base with hualuxe . hotel news now . retrieved 12 april 2012 . ihg agrees to acquire kimpton hotels & restaurants to create the world s largest boutique hotel business press release . intercontinental hotels group . 16 december 2014 . retrieved 2014 12 15 . downey sean 15 december 2014 . ihg acquires kimpton for 430 million . lodging . retrieved 2014 12 15 . recent history and current developments . friends of liverpool airport . retrieved 2008 09 09 . vincent roger 23 september 2014 hotel under construction in downtown l.a. will be an intercontinental los angeles times external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to intercontinental hotels . a history of the intercontinental hotels group by cosmopolis.ch v t e intercontinental hotels group brands current candlewood suites crowne plaza even hotels holiday inn holiday inn express holiday inn garden court hotel indigo intercontinental staybridge suites former holiday inn sunspree resorts notable hotels crowne plaza crowne plaza abu dhabi yas island crowne plaza shanghai anting golf crowne plaza billings crowne plaza belgrade crowne plaza christchurch former crowne plaza christchurch late 2016 crowne plaza i zmir crowne plaza lebanon crowne plaza liverpool john lennon airport crowne plaza times square new york crowne plaza niagara falls fallsview crowne plaza prague crowne plaza san antonio intercontinental intercontinental amstel amsterdam intercontinental bali intercontinental boston intercontinental bucharest intercontinental carlton cannes intercontinental dhaka intercontinental dublin intercontinental hanoi westlake intercontinental hong kong intercontinental kabul intercontinental kuwait downtown intercontinental london intercontinental miami intercontinental new york barclay intercontinental nha trang intercontinental phnom penh hotel ponce intercontinental intercontinental san francisco intercontinental mark hopkins san francisco shimao wonderland intercontinental intercontinental toronto centre intercontinental warsaw willard intercontinental washington people andy cosslett ian prosser richard solomons juan trippe kemmons wilson other crowne plaza invitational at colonial category commons v t e ftse 100 companies of the united kingdom ftse 250 3i admiral group anglo american antofagasta ashtead group associated british foods astrazeneca aviva bae systems bhp billiton bp babcock international barclays barratt developments british american tobacco british land bt group bunzl burberry capita carnival centrica coca cola hbc compass group crh croda international dcc diageo direct line group dixons carphone easyjet experian fresnillo gkn glaxosmithkline glencore hammerson hargreaves lansdown hikma pharmaceuticals hsbc imperial brands informa intercontinental hotels group international airlines group intertek intu properties itv johnson matthey kingfisher land securities group legal & general lloyds banking group london stock exchange group marks & spencer mediclinic international merlin entertainments micro focus international mondi morrisons national grid next old mutual paddy power betfair pearson persimmon polymetal international provident prudential randgold resources royal bank of scotland reckitt benckiser relx group rio tinto group rolls royce royal dutch shell royal mail rsa insurance group sage group j sainsbury schroders severn trent shire sky smith & nephew smiths group sse standard chartered standard life st. james s place taylor wimpey tesco travis perkins tui unilever united utilities vodafone whitbread wolseley worldpay wpp v t e hotel chains accor adagio formule 1 f1 formula 1 ibis budget styles mama shelter mercure grand mercure mgallery novotel suite novotel pullman the sebel sofitel thalassa sea & spa carlson rezidor country inns & suites park inn park plaza quorvus collection radisson radisson blu choice hotels ascend collection cambria hotels & suites clarion comfort inn comfort suites econo lodge mainstay suites quality inn rodeway inn sleep inn suburban extended stay hotel frhi fairmont hotels raffles swiss tel hilton canopy by hilton conrad hotels curio collection doubletree embassy suites hampton by hilton hilton garden inn hilton grand vacations hilton hotels & resorts home2 suites homewood suites tru by hilton waldorf astoria home inn fairyland hotel home inn motel 168 yitel hospitality international downtowner inns master host inns passport inns red carpet inn scottish inns huazhu hotels hanting inns and hotels hi inn ji hotel joya hotel manxin hotels and resorts starway hotel