Huazhu Hotel Group (formerly China Lodging Group) announced on June 26 that it has surpassed InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) in market capitalization as the world’s fourth highest value hospitality group.

According to data from global market intelligence firm Capital IQ, the Chinese hotel giant was valued at USD 12.8 billion (11.04 billion euros) as of May 31, 2018, while IHG was at around USD 12.1 billion (10.4 billion euros) at the same time.

 

As of June 25, Marriott remained the world’s highest value hotel group with a market capitalization of around USD 45.6 billion (39.3 billion euros), followed by Hilton (USD 23.8 billion - 20.5 billion euros) and AccorHotels (USD 14.27 billion - 12.68 billion euros).

Jin Jiang was also in the top ten, ranking ninth with a market value of USD 5.04 billion and BTG Hotels Group valued at USD 4.25 billion (36.69 billion euros), is ranked 12th.

Founded in 2005, Huazhu Hotel Group has 18 brands with 3,610 hotels and 357,117 rooms in 2018 according to the data from Hospitality ON. During its first-quarter earnings report, the hotel group reported 29.6% increase in net revenues to USD 333.4 million (287.7M€) and the net income attributable to the company was USD 20.5 million (176.9M€) for the quarter.

Following a strategic alliance with AccorHotels in 2016, Huazhu now has master franchise rights for Mercure, ibis and ibis Styles, and co-development rights for Grand Mercure and Novotel, as well as a 28% stake in AccorHotels Luxury and Upscale business in the Pan-China region. In addition, AccorHotels CEO, Sebastien Bazin, sits on Huazhu’s board.

The two companies also have cross ownership in that Huazhu holds 4.5% of AccorHotels and AccorHotels holds 10.3% of Huazhu.