InterContinental Hotels Group has acquired premium urban lifestyle brand for €110.5 million.
The Ruby brand currently operates 20 hotels – comprising 3,483 rooms – across Europe, with nine in Germany, three in London, three in Vienna, two in Switzerland and one in each of Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands. The brand also has ten more hotels in the pipeline set to open by the end of 2027 in cities including Edinburgh, Marseille, Rome and Stockholm.
IHG says it plans to rapidly expand Ruby’s “lean luxury” concept globally and expects to have the Ruby brand ready for development in the US by the end of 2025. IHG is targeting the Ruby brand to grow to more than 120 hotels over the next ten years and accelerate to more than 250 over 20 years.
The integration of all currently open Ruby hotels into IHG’s system is expected to commence later in 2025 and be completed by the end of March 2026. The ten pipeline hotels will be integrated into IHG’s system by 2028.
What they said
Elie Maalouf, chief executive officer of IHG said: “We are delighted with the acquisition of Ruby, which further enriches our portfolio with an exciting, distinct and high-quality offer for both guests and owners in popular city destinations. The urban micro space is a franchise-friendly model with attractive owner economics, and we see excellent opportunities to not only expand Ruby’s strong European base but also rapidly take this exciting brand to the Americas and across Asia.”
Michael Struck, founder & CEO of The Ruby Group added: “We have carefully selected IHG as the right partner to take the Ruby brand and our international expansion to the next level. 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. Also, the timing could not be better. Our unique solutions for efficient adaptive re-use of office space are in high demand, positioning us for strong growth.”