InterGlobe Enterprises intends to open twelve Miiro hotels throughout Europe, beginning with Paris in July and Barcelona in August, followed by London and Vienna in 2025. The new brand caters to frequent visitors aged 30 and up, offering entry-level luxury rooms. InterGlobe, which also runs IndiGo Airlines, bought eleven properties from K+K properties in 2019. InterGlobe Aviation's latest equity sale for INR 73,360 crore would fuel its expansion. Miiro plans to compete in mature areas such as London and Paris.
InterGlobe Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. is preparing to make a substantial foray into the European hospitality business with the debut of its new hotel brand, Miiro. The company intends to open approximately twelve Miiro hotels throughout Europe, starting with locations in Paris and Barcelona in mid-July and August, respectively. This ambitious rollout will continue until 2025, with more launches planned in major cities such as London and Vienna, according to Neena Gupta, CEO of Miiro and executive director of group strategy and international hospitality at InterGlobe Enterprises. InterGlobe Enterprises, the parent firm of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which owns IndiGo Airlines, also manages the hospitality industry.
The company's hotel properties are managed under a fully-owned entity based in the UK. Since 2018, InterGlobe has been acquiring hospitality assets, now owning over 2,000 rooms, including a 240-room hotel in Melbourne, Australia.
The three hotels set to come under the Miiro brand have been operating following their acquisitions in 2018 and 2019. These properties are in desirable regions of Paris, Barcelona, and London. The idea behind this enterprise is to invest in high-yield assets located in prominent areas. In 2019, InterGlobe expanded its portfolio by purchasing ten hotels from Austrian company K+K Hotels. These properties include two hotels in Austria and the Czech Republic, as well as one in France, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom. However, the hotel in Bucharest, Romania was eventually sold.
While Gupta did not disclose the acquisition cost, reports suggest that K+K Hotels were initially purchased by Highgate Hotels and Goldman Sachs for USD 300-350 million in 2015 and were subsequently sold to InterGlobe in 2019 for approximately USD 450 million. This strategic acquisition aligns with InterGlobe's goal of owning and operating premium hospitality assets.
This week, Rahul Bhatia, group managing director of InterGlobe Enterprises, sold a 2% share in InterGlobe Aviation in a block sale worth INR 73,360 crore. The earnings from this sale will be used to fund the expansion of the company's hospitality and other operations. According to a statement from InterGlobe Enterprises, the cash will be used to expand its hotel enterprises and other incubation businesses, as well as general company objectives.
InterGlobe's entry into the European hospitality sector is one of the few organized Indian hotel ownership enterprises abroad, among those held by the Hindujas and Ambanis in the United Kingdom. The new Miiro brand caters to the 30-plus demographic of "frequent and evolved" visitors to major European cities, with hotel rates starting at EUR 350 per night.
The first hotel to open under the Miiro brand will be Le Grand Hotel Cayre in Paris in July, followed by Hotel Borneta in Barcelona in August. The third property, Templeton Garden in London, is slated to open in 2025. Gupta highlighted the strategic importance of acquiring hotels in Europe, noting that the continent boasts some of the most mature and sophisticated hotel markets in the world, especially in cities like London and Paris.
In 2018, InterGlobe's first European hotel acquisition was at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, comprising 417 rooms, followed by the 278-room Reichshof Hotel in Hamburg. In India, InterGlobe Hotels, a joint venture between InterGlobe Enterprises and Accor, operates about 7,000 rooms across 30 hotels. This partnership, established in 2004, focuses on developing budget hotels to cater to the growing number of budget airline travelers, particularly those flying with IndiGo.
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