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 is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n conglomerate

SAS Group SAS AB, trading as SAS Group, is a Swedish airline holding company headquartered in Solna Municipality, Sweden. It is the owner of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines, SAS Link, and SAS Connect. As of 2024, SAS Group is owned by a group of s ...

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

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium, circa 1989. The listed company managed hotel chains under brands such as Radisson SAS (now Radisson Blu), Park Inn, and Country Inns & Suites. The brands were franchised from American hospitality and travel conglomerate Carlson Companies 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 Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

(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., was a Chinese conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, China. Founded in 2000, it was involved in numerous industries including aviation, real estate, financial services, tourism, logistics, and ...

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. 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, Honorary Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects, Hon. FAIA (; 11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to functionalism (architec ...

. 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(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 also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', 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 Carlson Companies. 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, Park Inn,

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

and Country Inns & Suites, in the

Europe, the Middle East and Africa Europe, the Middle East and Africa, commonly known by its acronym EMEA among the North American business spheres, is a geographical region used by institutions, governments and global spheres of marketing, media and business when referring to t ...

(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 hotel brand managed and operated by Radisson Hotels, and owned by Choice Hotels, Jinjiang International and the Radisson Hotel Group. Founded as the SAS Hotels in 1960, the Radisson Blu brand name came into exi ...

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 Holiday Inn by IHG is a chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson (1913–2003), who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division ...

hotels in Germany to Park Inn: Park Inn Bochum, Park Inn Dortmund-City Centre, Park Inn

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

Kaarst Kaarst (; ) is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Rhein-Kreis Neuss in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is 5 km west of Neuss and 12 km east of Mönchengladbach. Division of the town Kaarst consists of 5 subdivisions * Kaarst (2 ...

, 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 citie ...

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

, 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 ope ...

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 ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

and

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

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 & Resorts. As of December 31, 2022, it operates 851 hotels with 120,344 rooms across 63 countries under the Ramada brand. Name The ''Ramada'' name derives from th ...

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 organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

Rezidor Hotel Group

In 2006, SAS Group floated Rezidor SAS Hospitality as Rezidor Hotel Group AB (publ) on the

Stockholm Stock Exchange Nasdaq Stockholm, formerly known as the Stockholm Stock Exchange (), is a stock exchange located in Frihamnen, Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1863, it has become the primary securities exchange of the Nordic countries. As of March 2021, a total ...

. 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 A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

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 Carlson Companies. 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 Radisson Hotel Group.

References

External links