Ikea eyes $1.5 billion move into hotels
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STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Swedish furniture giant Ikea plans a one-billion-euro (S$1.5 billion) move into the hotel sector, opening at least 100 hotels in Europe, according to a company executive cited by a Swedish daily.
"We've been searching for property across Europe for a while and we'll announce in a few weeks where we'll open our own hotel," Svenska Dagbladet quoted as saying Mr Harald Mueller, the Ikea group executive in charge of the project.
The daily said Ikea plans to open "at least 100 hotels" in Germany, Belgium, Britain, the Netherlands and the Baltic states.
Construction of the hotels will be funded from revenues from the Ikea brand, which the company recently valued at 9 billion euros (S$13.8 billion), but will not bear the company logo and be operated by a hotel management company.
