Rezidor Hotel Group AB, originally SAS International Hotels A/S and then Rezidor SAS Hospitality A/S, Rezidor SAS Hospitality Group AB (publ), was a listed hotel group company. Originally founded by

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n conglomerate

SAS Group SAS AB (Scandinavian Airlines System Aktiebolag), trading as SAS Group, is an airline holding company headquartered in the SAS Frösundavik Office Building in Solna Municipality, Sweden. It is the owner of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines and S ...

as a hotel in 1960, it became a listed company in 2006. The global headquarters of Rezidor relocated to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium, circa 1989. The listed company managed hotel chains under brands such as Radisson SAS (now Radisson Blu),

Park Inn Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts, formerly Park Plaza International Hotels, Inns and Resorts and commonly known as just Park Plaza, is a hotel chain which runs several hotel groups as franchises. It was established in 1986 as a company and acquired b ...

, and

Country Inns & Suites Radisson Hospitality, Inc. (trading as Radisson Hotel Group) is an American multi-national hospitality company. It started as a division of Carlson Companies, which owned Radisson Hotels, Country Inns & Suites and other brands. In 1994, Carlson s ...

. The brands were franchised from American hospitality and travel conglomerate

Carlson Companies Carlson is an American privately held company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States. Its primary subsidiaries are CWT, a travel management company, and Carlson Private Capital Partners, a family office that manages the owners' wea ...

from 1994 (the Radisson brand) and 2002 (the other brands) respectively. In 2005, Carlson Companies acquired 25% of the shares of Rezidor Hotel Group from SAS Group. In 2007, SAS Group ceased to be a shareholder of the company. In 2010, Carlson Companies acquired control (more than 50.1% shares) of the listed company. In 2012, Rezidor Hotel Group started to integrate with the direct

parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

(Carlson Hotels, Inc.), with both companies collectively known as Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. Carlson Rezidor was one of the top hotel corporations in 2013. Carlson Hotels, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including Rezidor Hotel Group, were sold to Chinese conglomerate

HNA Group HNA Group Co., Ltd., is a Chinese conglomerate headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, China. Founded in 2000, it was involved in numerous industries including aviation, real estate, financial services, tourism, logistics, and more. It is a part owner ...

in 2016. Rezidor Hotel Group AB was then renamed to Radisson Hospitality AB. The direct parent company (Carlson Hotels, Inc.) became Radisson Hospitality, Inc., and the whole hotel group received a new trading name –

Radisson Hotel Group Radisson Hospitality, Inc. (trading as Radisson Hotel Group) is an American multi-national hospitality company. It started as a division of Carlson Companies, which owned Radisson Hotels, Country Inns & Suites and other brands. In 1994, Carlson s ...

. In 2018, Radisson Hotel Group was re-sold to a consortium led by Jin Jiang International of China.

History

Predecessors

, the flag carrier of Scandinavian countries, opened their first hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1960. The hotel, the SAS Royal Hotel, was the world's first designer hotel, which was designed by

Arne Jacobsen Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA () 11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to architectural functionalism and for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple we ...

. The hotel was initially under the catering division of the group. The hospitality and catering division then became SAS Catering and Hotels. In 1982, the hotels were spin-off as a separate division. It became a subsidiary known as SAS International Hotels in 1985. Future

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO) of SAS International Hotels, , joined the company as a junior manager in 1976. He was promoted as the president and CEO in 1989. According to the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', he "lays claim to several innovations n the hospitality business. He also struck a franchise deal for the company with Carlson Hotels in 1995, which made SAS International Hotels had "a decade of compound annual growth north of 20 per cent".

Rezidor SAS Hospitality

Rezidor SAS Hospitality, was a company headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. As of January 2005, it was a wholly owned subsidiary of

. The subsidiary was known as SAS International Hotels until 2001. The headquarters of the subsidiary was relocated to Brussels soon after Ritter became President & CEO of the subsidiary in 1989. In April 2005, Rezidor SAS signed a partnership agreement with Carlson Hotels Worldwide, a subsidiary of

. The agreement included Carlson acquired 25% shares of Rezidor SAS, as well as Rezidor SAS acquired the rights to use the Carlson-owned brands, such as Radisson SAS,

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

and

, in the

Europe, the Middle East and Africa EMEA is a shorthand designation meaning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acronym is used by institutions and governments, as well as in marketing and business when referring to this region: it is a shorthand way of referencing the two ...

(EMEA) markets. Rezidor SAS, at that time known as SAS International Hotels, signed a similar agreement in 1994 (1995 according to the ''Financial Times'' and Rezidor themselves) with Radisson Hotels International, another subsidiary of Carlson Companies. That agreement give birth of the hotel chain Radisson SAS. Radisson SAS was known as

Radisson Blu Radisson Blu is an international chain of hotels operated by Radisson Hotels. With roots dating back to the 1960s, the Radisson Blu brand name came into existence in 2009 with a rebranding from Radisson SAS. Its hotels are found in major cities, ...

since 2009. The franchise agreement was renewed in 2002, which added three more brands: Park Inn, Regent and Country Inn in the new agreement. In February 2005, Rezidor signed an agreement to convert seven former Holiday Inn hotels in Germany to Park Inn: Park Inn Bochum, Park Inn Dortmund-City Centre, Park Inn

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

/ Kaarst, Park Inn Hanover, Park Inn

Kamen Kamen () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the district Unna. Geography Kamen is situated at the east end of the Ruhr area, approximately 10 km south-west of Hamm and 25 km north-east of Dortmund. Neighbouring cities, t ...

Unna Unna is a city of around 59,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the seat of the Unna district. The newly refurbished Unna station has trains to all major cities in North Rhine Westphalia including Dortmund, Cologne, Münster, Hamm, D ...

, Park Inn Köln-Belfortstraße (Park Inn Cologne-Belfortstrasse) and Park Inn Cologne City-West. However, six of the aforementioned hotels, except Cologne City-West, were converted to Mercure brand of

AccorHotels Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide. Accor op ...

in 2014. In 2005, Rezidor SAS opened four more Radisson hotels in the Republic of Ireland. Two Park Inn hotels were also opened in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

and

Mulranny Mulranny ()—sometimes spelled as 'Mallaranny', 'Mulrany', 'Malaranny', 'Mullaranny', 'Mullranny' or 'Mulranny'—is a seaside village on the isthmus between Clew Bay and Blacksod Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. Mulranny, located at the foo ...

respectively in the same year. However, Park Inn Dundalk was closed down in 2010. The former Park Inn Dundalk was under

Ramada Ramada is a large American multinational hotel chain owned by Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. As of December 31, 2018, it operates 811 hotels with 114,614 rooms across 63 countries under the Ramada brand. Name The ''Ramada'' name derives from t ...

brand of Wyndham Hotels and managed by another company Lester Hotels since 2016. In February 2006, Rezidor opened a Park Inn hotel in Baku, the first Park Inn hotel in the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

Rezidor Hotel Group

In 2006, SAS Group floated Rezidor SAS Hospitality as Rezidor Hotel Group AB (publ) on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The listed company is incorporated in Sweden. After the listing, as of 2007, SAS Group ceased to be a shareholder of Rezidor Hotel Group, while Carlson Hotels Worldwide owned about 42% shares. In the 2010s, Rezidor Hotel Group became part of a larger hotel group, which

trading as Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market (economics), market. An early form of trade, barter, s ...

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. Carlson Hotels increased its ownership ratio of the Rezidor Hotel Group to 50.1% in 2010 and then integrating the two hotel groups. In January 2012, it was announced that Carlson hotel group and Rezidor hotel group would runs hotels under one name Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. In 2010, Carlson and Rezidor had already sold the brand

to . The enlarged group, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, was one of the top hotel corporations in 2013. Carlson–Rezidor group was acquired by Chinese conglomerate

, via their division, HNA Tourism Group, in 2016 from

. The takeover also triggered a mandatory bid for the remaining shares of the listed company. However, HNA Group re-sold Carlson–Rezidor group to a consortium led by Jin Jiang International Holdings, another Chinese conglomerate. In May 2018, Rezidor Hotel Group, the listed company, was renamed to Radisson Hospitality AB (publ); The Belgian subsidiary, was renamed to Radisson Hospitality Belgium SPRL/BVBA; The parent company, Carlson Hotels, Inc., was renamed to Radisson Hospitality, Inc. in the fourth quarter of 2017. The trading name of the whole hotel group, including both Radisson Hospitality AB and Radisson Hospitality, Inc., was renamed to

References

External links