The chief executive of the Scandinavian airline said last week that the hotel group was not a core business. Market analysts saw the comments as an attempt to hoist a for sale sign above the hotels business.
But the workforce at the Brussels-based Rezidor will not have new owners for a while yet. SAS said it expected the sale to take a few years and even then it may hang onto a majority stake.
Meanwhile, Rezidor is trying to live up to its billing as the fastest growing hotel chain in Europe. It has signed an agreement to manage a resort in Ireland, on the Farnham Estate in Cavan.
The €50m project will see a 158-bedroom hotel, spa and championship golf course built in the 1,300 acres of parkland.
Rezidor has 210 hotels in operation and is targeting 700 by the year 2012. It has five brands - Radisson SAS, Park Inn, Country Inn, Regent and its new lifestyle concept Cerruti, a joint initiative with the international fashion house. The first four brands are all licensed from US company Carlson.
