InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®) has acquired Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, one of the world’s leading operators of luxury hotels, resorts and spas.
The $300 million cash acquisition from Pegasus Capital Advisors includes all of Six Senses’ brands and operating companies and does not include any real estate assets.
Six Senses currently manages 16 hotels and resorts, with 18 management contracts signed into its pipeline, and more than 50 further deals under active discussion. With properties in locations such as the Maldives, the Seychelles, Yao Noi in Thailand, Zighy Bay in Oman, and Portugal’s Douro Valley, the addition of Six Senses’ award-winning estate and high-quality development pipeline will further round out IHG’s position in the luxury segment.
At Six Senses’ core is a commitment to guest rejuvenation and reconnection, with an expert focus on wellness and sustainability. The acquisition extends IHG’s reach to a community of affluent travellers and new owners and provides instant entry to some of the world’s most sought-after locations.
Six Senses will sit at the top of IHG’s luxury portfolio, complementing the world’s largest luxury hotel brand, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts; the recently acquired and repositioned Regent Hotels & Resorts; and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, for which IHG has secured a presence in 14 countries, since its acquisition of the brand in 2015. Today’s acquisition of Six Senses takes IHG’s portfolio of open and pipeline luxury hotels to 400 hotels (108,000 rooms) globally.
By combining IHG’s scale, systems and operational excellence with Six Senses’ luxury, resort and spa expertise, IHG sees the potential to grow the Six Senses estate to more than 60 properties globally over the next 10 years. This includes bringing Six Senses to important urban markets, with a property already under construction in West Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City.
Keith Barr, Chief Executive Officer, IHG, commented: “Six Senses is an outstanding brand in the top-tier of luxury and one we’ve admired for some time. You only have to look at its iconic hotels and resorts to see how this acquisition will further round out our luxury offer. With a focus on wellness and sustainability, Six Senses has been voted the world’s top hotel brand for the past two years, which is testament to its impressive management team who bring deep experience to IHG’s luxury operations.
“Six Senses’ attractive development pipeline provides us with a platform for high quality growth. With the power of the IHG enterprise, we believe we can expand Six Senses to more than 60 properties globally over the next decade. This acquisition continues the progress we’ve made against the strategic initiatives we outlined a year ago, which included a commitment to adding new brands in the fast-growing $60 billion luxury segment.”
“This is an exciting new era for Six Senses,” said Chief Executive Officer Neil Jacobs. “IHG believes in our purpose to merge the two platforms of wellness and sustainability to promote personal health, and the health of the planet. Joining forces with IHG means we can use a wealth of systems and operational excellence to grow our brand and reach new markets without losing our quirky personality and playful touch. It’s been a great pleasure to work with Pegasus over the last six years and we would never have reached this milestone without their vision and deep involvement.”
David Cogut, Principal, Pegasus Capital Advisors, commented: “Six Senses fit well with our core themes of investing in sustainability and wellness with a focus on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) integration, and we’re proud of the work we have done to build it into one of the world’s best luxury hotel brands. Since acquiring the brand in 2012, we have taken the Six Senses experience to some of the world’s most select locations. IHG shares many of our values and will protect what’s special about the brand as it drives Six Senses’ next phase of growth.”
Over the next 12 months, Six Senses will open properties in surprising locations. From the private island of Krabey in Cambodia, a circuit of five lodges in Bhutan, to a 14th-century-old restored fort in Rajasthan. The dream list also includes a desert hideaway in Israel’s Negev Desert, the transformation of a series of 19th-century mansions in Istanbul and the group’s first project in North America, a contemporary duo of twisting towers designed by Bjarke Ingles located in Manhattan’s West Chelsea neighborhood and along the High Line. Additional projects are currently under way in Austria, Brazil, Mainland China, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan and Thailand.
Although Six Senses took its first (barefoot) steps on remote beaches and tropical hideaways, the people behind the brand have shown that purposeful travel and emotional hospitality is not formulaic. It can be successfully replicated across a diverse property portfolio, which includes a 19th century quinta (wine estate) in the UNESCO heritage-listed Douro Valley in Portugal and two sister hotels in Singapore’s Chinatown. The model can be adapted and still retain all the sustainable commitments for which Six Senses has become the industry inspiration.
The beating heart of every Six Senses property is a Six Senses Spa, working in harmony with each hotel and resort to create a depth of personalized wellness support. Each spa offers a menu of Six Senses signature treatments and therapies plus locally-inspired specialties, yogic programs and a range of feel-good pamperings. Skilled therapists are drawn from all over and Six Senses’ Visiting Practitioners bring an extra depth of knowledge to each spa guest.
Unique to the hospitality sector, Six Senses has taken wellness out of the spa and integrated it into the entire stay for guests: from the food they eat to the way they sleep. Sleep With Six Senses, Eat With Six Senses and the latest Grow With Six Senses childrens’ initiative have all been highly successful in helping people (young and young at heart) to learn something new and reconnect with themselves, others and the world around them.
