IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group)

Is IHG owned by another company?
No, IHG operates as an independent publicly traded company. The company traces its origins to Bass Brewery, founded in 1777, but has maintained its independence throughout its evolution into a hospitality company. IHG is listed on the London Stock Exchange under ticker IHG and is owned by its shareholders worldwide, with no single controlling shareholder or parent company.

Is IHG publicly traded?
Yes, IHG is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IHG. The company also has ADRs listed in the United States. In 2025, IHG returned over $1.1 billion to shareholders through ordinary dividend payments of 184.5 cents per share and a $900 million share buyback program, which reduced the share count by 4.8 percent. A new $950 million buyback has been approved for 2026.

When was IHG founded?
IHG traces its origins to 1777 when William Bass founded Bass Brewery in Burton upon Trent, England. The company entered hospitality through the acquisition of Holiday Inn in 1989 and InterContinental Hotels in 1998. In 2003, the company separated from its pub and restaurant business and became InterContinental Hotels Group as an independent hospitality company.

What is IHG's market position?
IHG is one of the world's largest hotel companies, operating 6,963 hotels with over 1 million rooms across more than 100 countries. The company ranks behind Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide in total room count but has a development pipeline of 339,526 rooms, equivalent to 33 percent of its current system size. IHG opened a record 443 hotels in 2025 and signed 694 more into its pipeline.

How many brands does IHG own?
IHG owns and operates 20 hotel brands organized into four categories: Luxury and Lifestyle (InterContinental, Regent, Six Senses, Vignette Collection, Kimpton), Premium (Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, voco, Garner, Noted Collection, Ruby), Essentials (Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, avid hotels), and Suites (Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, Even Hotels, Atwell Suites). The company also has an Exclusive Partners agreement with Iberostar Beachfront Resorts.

Who is the CEO of IHG?
Elie Maalouf is the Chief Executive Officer of IHG Hotels and Resorts. He took leadership in 2023 and led the company to record hotel openings, over 1 million rooms globally, and adjusted EPS growth of 16 percent in 2025. Under his leadership, IHG has focused on accelerating brand growth, expanding in key markets, and driving ancillary fee streams.

What is IHG's revenue?
IHG reported total revenue of $5,189 million for full year 2025, up 5 percent from 2024. Revenue from reportable segments was $2,468 million, up 7 percent. Operating profit from reportable segments was $1,265 million, up 13 percent. Adjusted EBITDA was $1,332 million, up 12 percent. Total gross revenue across all hotels in IHG's system was $35.2 billion, up 5 percent.

IHG traces its origins to 1777 when William Bass founded Bass Brewery in Burton upon Trent, England. The brewery expanded throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming one of Britain's largest brewing companies. Bass Brewery's red triangle trademark was the first registered trademark in the United Kingdom under the Trade Marks Registration Act of 1875.

In the 20th century, Bass diversified into hospitality. The company acquired Holiday Inn in 1989 for $2.23 billion, a transformative acquisition that gave Bass a major presence in the U.S. hotel market. InterContinental Hotels and Resorts was acquired from SAS in 1998 for $2.9 billion, adding a luxury international brand to the portfolio. These acquisitions established Bass as a major global hotel operator.

In 2000, Bass sold its brewing business to Interbrew (now part of AB InBev) for approximately 2.3 billion pounds, marking the company's strategic exit from brewing and full commitment to hospitality. The company was renamed Six Continents in 2001, reflecting its global hotel and pub estate. In 2003, the company split into two separate entities: Mitchells and Butlers (the pub and restaurant business) and InterContinental Hotels Group (the hotel business), creating IHG as an independent, publicly traded hospitality company.

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, IHG expanded its brand portfolio and global footprint. The company launched Hotel Indigo in 2004 as a boutique brand, acquired Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites to build its extended-stay portfolio, and introduced avid hotels in 2017 as a new-build essentials brand. In 2018, IHG acquired a 51 percent stake in Regent Hotels and Resorts, repositioning it as a luxury brand. In 2019, IHG acquired Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas for $300 million, adding a wellness-focused luxury brand.

In 2019, IHG launched Vignette Collection, a portfolio of independent luxury hotels, and introduced Atwell Suites as an upscale all-suites brand. In 2021, IHG announced a long-term commercial agreement with Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, adding approximately 70 resorts to IHG's system as Exclusive Partners. In 2023, IHG launched Garner, a premium conversion brand targeting existing hotels that want to join the IHG system.

In 2025, IHG acquired the Ruby brand, a premium lifestyle hotel brand focused on popular city destinations. Ruby signings are growing, and in 2026 the brand was taken into the U.S. market. In February 2026, IHG launched Noted Collection, a new premium segment brand targeting the large and fast-growing premium conversion market. Noted Collection joins Vignette, voco, and Garner as IHG's collection and conversion brand offerings.

Under CEO Elie Maalouf, who took leadership in 2023, IHG has focused on accelerating brand growth, expanding in key markets, strengthening hotel owner returns, driving ancillary fee streams, and delivering cost efficiencies. In 2025, the company opened a record 443 hotels and signed 694 more into its pipeline, including the highest ever hotel openings and signings in Greater China.

IHG's sustainability strategy is organized under its "Journey to Tomorrow" program, which targets net zero emissions by 2050. The company has committed to reducing Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030, compared to a 2019 baseline. IHG also targets a 15 percent reduction in water consumption per occupied room in water-stressed areas by 2030.

IHG's sustainability initiatives are implemented across its hotel portfolio through the IHG Green Engage system, an online environmental sustainability tool available to all IHG-branded hotels. The system tracks energy consumption, water usage, and waste generation, and recommends sustainability actions. Over 6,000 hotels use the IHG Green Engage system.

The company has eliminated small amenity bottles across its estate, replacing them with bulk amenities to reduce plastic waste. IHG estimates this initiative eliminates over 500 million small plastic bottles annually. The company has also committed to eliminating single-use plastic straws and reducing food waste through partnership with Winnow, an AI-powered food waste reduction platform.

IHG does not hold B Corp certification. The company's sustainability claims are based on its own reporting and the IHG Green Engage system. Readers should note that corporate sustainability reports represent first-party sources and should be evaluated alongside independent assessments where available.

On social responsibility, IHG publishes a Modern Slavery Statement annually, covering its operations and supply chain. The company employs 7,459 corporate employees worldwide, with costs borne by the Group, and an additional 20,390 employees whose costs are borne by the System Fund or hotel owners. The majority of people working at IHG-branded hotels are employed by franchise owners, not by IHG directly.

IHG and its hotel brands have received recognition from hospitality industry organizations and travel publications. Specific awards and rankings include:

• World Travel Awards: Multiple awards for InterContinental as World's Leading Hotel Brand
• World's Leading Hotel Brand (World Travel Awards, multiple years for InterContinental)
• Record hotel openings in 2025: 443 hotels, the highest annual total in IHG's history
• Over 1 million rooms globally: IHG surpassed this milestone in 2025
• IHG One Rewards: Over 130 million loyalty program members

IHG operates in the highly regulated global hospitality industry and faces regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions.

Wage and Hour Litigation
In 2024, a class certification motion was filed in California against IHG Management (Maryland) LLC on behalf of non-exempt hotel employees. The lawsuit, led by plaintiff Robert Martinez who worked at the InterContinental San Diego, alleges systemic wage and hour violations including failure to pay overtime correctly, failure to incorporate mandatory service charges into the regular rate of pay, failure to furnish accurate wage statements, and failure to pay final wages on time. The proposed class covers employees who worked at IHG hotels in California from December 28, 2019, onward. The case was ongoing as of 2025.

In 2025, the DC Attorney General secured a $186,650 settlement from IHG Management LLC over allegations that the company failed to provide accurate and transparent compensation policies to workers at Moon Rabbit, a restaurant that IHG operated at the InterContinental Hotel in Washington, DC, from October 2020 through May 2023. The settlement included $126,650 to 42 former restaurant workers and $60,000 in penalties to the District. IHG was required to change its practices regarding tipped-wage requirements at District restaurants.

Patent Infringement Lawsuit
S3G Technology LLC filed a patent infringement complaint against Six Continents Hotels Inc., an IHG unit, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint alleges that the IHG Hotels and Rewards smartphone app infringes multiple patents related to methods for conducting dialogue between a terminal machine and a service provider. The case was ongoing as of 2025.

Property Liability Litigation
In November 2025, IHG Hotels and Resorts was named in a lawsuit filed in Custer County, Oklahoma, following an anhydrous ammonia gas leak in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn in Weatherford, Oklahoma. The lawsuit alleges that IHG, as franchisor, along with Airgas Inc. and Champion Hotels, committed negligence and created a public nuisance. The case was ongoing as of early 2026.

Regulatory Compliance
As a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange with U.S. ADRs, IHG must comply with both UK and U.S. financial reporting requirements, including FCA listing rules and SEC reporting obligations. The company must also comply with data protection regulations including GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California, consumer protection laws across multiple jurisdictions, and franchise disclosure requirements in various states and countries.