Bass Hotels The origins of the business may be traced to 1777 when
William Bass established the
Bass Brewery in
Burton-upon-Trent. The company later changed its name to Bass Charrington. Its first entry into the lodging sector came with acquisition of tied public houses. In 1969, it launched the
Crest Hotels chain. In 1988, after the British government limited the number of pubs that brewers could directly own, Bass further invested in the expansion of its hotel business with the purchase of
Holiday Inn International from shareholders. Bass expanded its hotel business again in 1998, acquiring the luxury
Inter-Continental hotel chain, which had been founded by
Juan Trippe, from the
Saison Group. The hotel division was then renamed from Holiday Hospitality to Bass Hotels & Resorts, to reflect its expansion beyond the Holiday Inn brand. Bass changed its name to
Six Continents in 2001, after having sold its brewing assets and the Bass name, and Bass Hotels & Resorts became Six Continents Hotels.
InterContinental Hotels Group Six Continents announced in October 2002 that it would split itself in two, with one company holding its pubs and restaurants, and the other holding its hotel and soft drink businesses. The split was completed on 15 April 2003, establishing InterContinental Hotels Group (named after the de-hyphenated
InterContinental brand) as an independent company, alongside the pub company,
Mitchells & Butlers. IHG's hotel portfolio at the time comprised 3,325 properties, primarily under the Holiday Inn,
Crowne Plaza, and InterContinental brands. Of those, 190 were owned or leased by the company, with the remainder under management or franchise agreements. After the separation from Six Continents, IHG began an asset disposal program, selling off hotels to move towards an "asset-light" model focused on franchising and management. From 2003 to 2015, the company sold around 200 hotels for a total of almost $8 billion, leaving only 7 owned or leased properties in the portfolio. In 2004, IHG acquired the
Candlewood Suites brand, a midscale
extended stay hotel brand with 108 franchised properties in the United States, for $15 million. IHG divested its soft drink holdings in 2005, selling its 48 percent stake in
Britvic for £371 million through an
initial public offering. In 2015, IHG acquired
Kimpton Hotels, a
boutique hotel brand with 62 managed properties, for $430 million. In February 2021, IHG announced an annual loss of $153 million caused by restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the company expected that the
Holiday Inn Express brand would help in the recovery process. In 2024, IHG signed an expansive cooperation and franchise agreement with German hotel operator Novum Hospitality, rebranding and partially refurbishing all of their current properties (namely
the niu,
Yggotel,
Novum Hotels,
Select Hotels and
acora living the city) into IHG brands
Holiday Inn,
Holiday Inn Express,
Candlewood Suites and Garner in the upcoming years. This will increase IHG's portfolio in Germany by over 100 hotels. In 2024, the group reported revenues of $2.3 billion with a $1.1 billion operating profit. Across the same year, it opened 371 new hotels. ==Corporate affairs==