OYO Hotels & Homes on Track to Hit 50 hotels in the UK by the end of April 2019
Main Photo: The Oyo Townhouse, London
Date: April 2019
Location: UK
Name: Oyo Hotels & Homes
No. of Keys: 1,200 UK by the end of April 2019
Buyer: Since launching in the UK in October 2018, the budget hotel chain already has 30 franchised and leased hotels across the UK in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Blackpool and Edinburgh. The UK was the group’s first market outside of Asia.
The business, which is backed by investors including Softbank, Airbnb, Sequoia and Lightspeed, plans to invest £40m in the UK this year alone. It was announced earlier this week that Airbnb has taken a stake in the Indian hotel chain with reports suggesting investment of more than £76m.
Jeremy Sanders, head of OYO Hotels & Homes UK, said: “We are extremely excited to have launched in the UK, and are very encouraged by our progress so far. We are delighted to have already partnered with so many amazing independent hotel owners from across the country, and look forward to working with many more.”
Since being founded in India in 2013 by 25-year-old entrepreneur Ritesh Agarwal, OYO now has more than 18,000 franchised and leased hotels across 10 countries, including India and China, and describes itself as the world’s fastest growing hotel chain and the sixth largest hotel chain in the world.
Airbnb has taken a stake in Indian hotel chain Oyo with reports suggesting investment of more than £76m (US$100m).
The budget Indian hotel chain confirmed home rental platform Airbnb had invested in the company but were not in a position to share further details. In addition, both parties are exploring opportunities to collaborate on a range of projects, including making Oyo accommodations available on the Airbnb platform.
Jeremy Sanders, former chief executive and co-founder of the Coco di Mama restaurant chain has been appointed to lead its UK operations.
Maninder Gulati, global chief strategy officer at Oyo Hotels & Homes, said: “As the sixth largest hotel chain operator in the world, we at Oyo Hotels & Homes are committed to offering our guests and travellers around the world great quality living spaces. We are happy to have Airbnb as our partner in this vision.
“Strong global strategic relationships that support this mission, help drive collaborative efforts in the right direction. Airbnb’s strong global footprints and access to local communities will open up new opportunities for Oyo Hotels & Homes to strengthen and grow while staying true to our core value proposition. We’re excited by the possibilities and committed to bringing benefits to the millions of travellers who can now rely on Airbnb and Oyo Hotels & Homes to find a home away from home.”
THPT Comment: Wow growth or what…? Interesting addition to the company name ….”& homes” and that was before Airbnb invested.
First Seen: The Caterer
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