InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has acquired the Ruby brand and related intellectual property from Ruby SARL for an initial purchase consideration of €110.5m ($116m).
Ruby is a high-end urban lifestyle brand catering to modern travellers in top city destinations, IHG said.
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Its “space-efficient” design and “flexible” concept are said to make it an appealing choice for hotel owners, with IHG anticipating swift global expansion.
As IHG’s 20th brand, Ruby is expected to extend the group’s reach to modern, lifestyle-focused travellers.
Established in 2013, the brand operates 20 hotels with 3,483 rooms across Europe and has an additional ten hotels with 2,235 rooms in the pipeline, set to open in the next three years.
The brand’s presence spans Germany, the UK, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, and the Netherlands, with expansion plans involving cities such as Edinburgh, Marseille, Rome, and Stockholm.
IHG aims to grow the Ruby brand further with hotel owners in Europe and beyond, leveraging its experience in international brand expansion.
Plans are in place to introduce the brand to the US market by the end of the year.
The partnership with IHG is expected to enable Ruby hotels to benefit from IHG’s enterprise platform, including distribution, technology systems, and the IHG One Rewards loyalty programme.
IHG’s growth targets for Ruby include reaching over 120 hotels in the next ten years and accelerating to more than 250 over the following decade.
IHG Hotels & Resorts CEO Elie Maalouf said: “This acquisition demonstrates our focus on building our presence in large, attractive industry segments and using our experience of integrating and growing brands and hotel portfolios.”
The current and pipeline Ruby hotels are expected to contribute approximately $8m in franchise fees to IHG in 2028.
While IHG will not acquire the seller’s operating company, it will continue to run the existing Ruby hotels and any future developments under the brand, all of which will enter into individual franchise agreements with IHG.
The integration of the 20 existing Ruby hotels into IHG’s system is set to begin later in 2025 and be completed by 31 March 2026, increasing IHG’s global system size by 0.3%.
The upcoming ten pipeline hotels will add roughly another 0.2% upon opening.
The Ruby Group founder and CEO Michael Struck said: “Combining the global reach and resources of IHG with the efficiency advantages of our operational and construction model will drive superior returns for our investors and real-estate partners, alike.”
Earlier this month, IHG expanded its presence in southern Europe by rebranding a Pacini Group property in Italy under its midscale conversion brand, Garner Hotels.
