Le Méridien

Le Méridien, New Delhi, India
Le Méridien, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Le Méridien, Dead Sea, Israel
Le Méridien, Kuwait City
Le Méridien Istanbul Etiler Hotel

Le Méridien is an upscale, design-focused international hotel brand with a European perspective, formerly headquartered in France and in the United Kingdom. It is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, and has a portfolio of 100 hotels in over 40 countries worldwide.[1]

History

The Le Méridien brand was established in 1972 by Air France "to provide on a home away from home for its customers." The first Le Méridien property was a 1,000-room hotel in Paris — Le Méridien Etoile. Within two years of operation, the group had 10 hotels in Europe and Africa. Within the first six years, the number of hotels had risen to 21 hotels in Europe, Africa, the French West Indies, Canada, South America, the Middle East and Mauritius. By 1991, the total number of Le Méridien properties had risen to 58.

In late 1994, Le Méridien was acquired by UK hotel company Forte Group, which in turn was acquired by Granada plc in 1996. Through a merger in the summer of 2000 between Granada Group and global contract caterer Compass Group — and the subsequent de-merger of the two companies in February 2001 — the ownership of the Forte Hotels division and its three brands (Le Méridien, Heritage Hotels and Posthouse Forte) passed solely to Compass.

In May 2001, Nomura Group announced the acquisition of Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts from Compass Group plc for £1.9 billion and Le Méridien was merged with Principal Hotels, which was acquired in February 2001. In December 2003, Lehman Brothers Holdings acquired the senior debt of Le Méridien.

On November 24, 2005, the Le Méridien brand and management fee business was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts.[2] The leased and owned real estate assets were acquired in a separate deal by a joint venture formed by Lehman Brothers and Starwood Capital.

In 2011, Le Méridien opened up its 100th hotel in Coimbatore, India.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Le Meridien". Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Hospitality Net - Industry News - Starwood Capital Group Acquires Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts Portfolio
  3. ↑ "Le Meridien Celebrates a New Era with the Unveiling of Its 100th Hotel, Le Méridien Coimbatore in India". UK: Reuters. 2011-11-14. Retrieved 4 April 2012.

External links

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