Jin Jiang International’s merger with Plateno Group resulted in it becoming China’s largest hotel group. The highly discussed deal was made official following a signing ceremony in Shanghai on September 18, with Jin Jiang acquiring a 81% stake in Plateno. Together, the group boasts a combined portfolio of over 6,000 hotels with more than 640,000 guest rooms in 55 countries across all regions.
HOTELS spoke with iPR Ogilvy, the public relations consultant of Jin Jiang, about the hotel giant’s domestic and global plans, potential new brands, and other development goals.
HOTELS: Can you elaborate on Jin Jiang’s plans for the newly merged hotel industry giant, both domestically and globally?
iPR Ogilvy: Jin Jiang Hotels will be able to further broaden its strategic geographical presence in domestic and global markets through:
• Strengthening the Jin Jiang Hotels’ strategic positioning and continuously advancing the strategic development plan
• Further expanding business scale, elevating industry positioning and maintaining its competitive advantage
• Realizing integration synergy, increasing revenue and reducing operating costs
• Further developing Jin Jiang Hotels’ marketing initiatives
H: Does Jin Jiang plan to create any new brands as a result of the merger?
iPR Ogilvy: Jin Jiang Hotels adapts to the changes of consumers’ needs, seizes new opportunities associated with select-service hotels, and continues to enhance the varieties of its portfolio in order to improve the competitiveness of its brands. As a result, the acquisition will further enhance the brand portfolio of Jin Jiang Hotels.
H: Can you elaborate on the efficiencies that will be created as a result of this merger?
iPR Ogilvy: Jin Jiang Hotels will benefit from the synergy of the integration, including the expansion of its customer base, increase of revenue, and increase in employees. It is expected that Jin Jiang Hotels’ bargaining power will be strengthen and procurement costs will be lowered.
The acquisition will also facilitate the reduction of Jin Jiang Hotels’ operating costs due to centralized procurement that can be applied in areas such as hotel daily supplies, consumables and renovation materials.
H: JinJiang also acquired Louvre hotels recently. Does it have additional plans to grow its portfolio via acquisition?
iPR Ogilvy: The group does not rule out the possibility, but has no plan for additional acquisition at the moment.
H: How well will the Jin Jiang and Keystone Lodging Holdings cultures merge?
iPR Ogilvy: Jin Jiang Hotels will continue to support the development of competitive advantages of Keystone Lodging Holdings. It will make use of the innovative mechanism and outstanding corporate culture of Keystone Lodging Holdings in order to support Jin Jiang Hotels’ marketing development and deal with the challenges that arise from the transition and growth of the hotel industry.
H: Is it accurate to estimate that the combined companies will have some 6,000 hotels and 640,000 guest rooms?
iPR Ogilvy: Yes. Upon completion of the acquisition, the business scale of Jin Jiang Hotels will be materially increased, its industry positioning and brand influence will be notably elevated, the member base will be expanded, and resources for the hotel business will be enriched. The economy of scale for Jin Jiang Hotels’ operation will be enhanced and its leading position in the industry will be further escalated.