Pro Invest Group to Grow Holiday Inn Express Brand in Australia

International investment company, Pro Invest Group, has established a $150 million fund to develop a portfolio of 15 Holiday Inn Express hotels across Australia.

Pro Invest has created a property development and hotel operating company to build and operate an initial 15 Holiday Inn Express hotels, totaling approximately 2,100 rooms, in central business, suburban and airport locations in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

InterContinental Hotels Group will enter into franchise agreements for each of the hotels under a multiple development agreement signed between the two companies.

The first hotel, the 190-room Holiday Inn Express North Ryde, will open at Macquarie Park in North Ryde, Sydney in the autumn of 2014.

The principal of Pro Invest Group, Ronald Barrott, has been a strong partner for the brand, having already developed a portfolio of Holiday Inn Express properties in Europe in the 1990s and early 2000s with Stannifer Hotels. As Founder, CEO and Chairman of the company, Barrott led Stannifer to become one of the UK’s most successful select service hotel groups.

“This fund is comprised of a group of offshore investors, all who see the potential of investing in both the Holiday Inn Express brand, and Australia. We believe now is the time to grow this brand in the market and travellers will certainly benefit from having one of the world’s biggest hotel brands to choose from,” said Ronald Barrott, principal of Pro Invest. “My previous experience in the UK tells me this partnership with IHG will be a long and successful one, and that there is plenty of opportunity to grow this initial portfolio of 15 Holiday Inn Express hotels to become many more in the years to come.”

There are currently 30 hotels open operating under IHG’s InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands in Australia.

First launched in 1991, the Holiday Inn Express brand has now grown to more than 2,200 hotels worldwide - the biggest brand within the IHG estate. A further 450 hotels are due to open in the next three to five years.

See also: InterContinental to Transform Double Bay Hotel.