UPDATE: InterContinental CFO To Become CEO, Strategy Unchanged
16 März 2011 - 2:15PM
Dow Jones News
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG), the world's largest
hotel operator by number of rooms, said Wednesday Chief Executive
Andrew Cosslett will step down at the end of June and will be
succeeded in the top job by Richard Solomons, chief financial
officer and head of commercial development.
Solomons, 49, who has been with IHG since June 1992, said there
would be no change in strategy when he takes the helm. "Continuity
is at the heart of the business. This is the next chapter of the
book. It is business as usual."
He has held a number of senior roles at IHG including chief
operating officer of the Americas hotels division and interim
president of the Americas region, and was appointed finance chief
in February 2003. Prior to joining IHG, he was finance director of
Britvic PLC (BVIC.LN), and chairman ahead of its initial public
offering in 2006.
Cosslett, 55, said he would take a few months to decide on his
next move. "It feels like the right time to hand over the reins. [I
have] no immediate plans. It is an opportunity to take stock of the
different options I have ahead. We have made a lot of progress and
the business is in great shape." Cosslett said he is not getting
any payoff on his departure. "I am taking the shares that I built
up with [the company] and the pension," he said.
Chairman David Webster said Cosslett "has been an outstanding
chief executive since joining the company in February 2005", but
that Solomons is an "able and worthy successor" and is "the board's
first choice to take the company forward."
At 1226 GMT, IHG's shares fell 24 pence, or 1.9%, to 1231 pence,
the third-biggest faller on the FTSE 100. A trader said the
departure of Cosslett was a major surprise and would not be
welcomed by the market.
Cosslett joined IHG from Cadbury Schweppes, where he spent 14
years in marketing and general management, and before that spend 11
years at Unilever PLC (ULVR.LN)
Solomons takes up his new role July 1. The company has begun a
search for a new chief financial officer.
IHG plans to more than double the size of its operations in the
key emerging markets of China, India and the Middle East in the
next few years as it takes advantage of growing traveller numbers
and global economic trends, boosted by increased life expectancy,
the use of low-cost airlines and Internet access.
The company, which largely operates a franchise model in
partnership with hotel owners rather than owning them directly,
will also look to introduce a new mid-scale hotel brand in the
U.S., where it currently makes about two thirds of its profit.
IHG, which has seven brands--InterContinental, Crowne Plaza,
Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge and
Candlewood--has previously said it has scope to widen its portfolio
given the roster of rivals which have more than double that number,
such as U.S.-based hoteliers Marriott International Inc. (MAR),
which owns the Ritz-Carlton chain, and Sheraton-owner Starwood
Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT).
-By Jonathan Buck, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)207 842 9237;
jonathan.buck@dowjones.com and Simon Zekaria, Dow Jones Newswires;
+44 207 842-9410; simon.zekaria@dowjones.com
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