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Rosewood Hotel Group

From Alfawiki
Rosewood Hotel Group
Company typePrivate company
IndustryHotel management
PredecessorNew World Hotel Group, New World Hospitality, New World Hotel Management (BVI) Limited, New World Hotel Management Limited
Founded2005 in Hong Kong
FateAcquired by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises in 2015
Headquarters
Hong Kong
,
Hong Kong
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Sonia Cheng (CEO)
ProductsHotel management services; brands include New World Hotels & Resorts, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Carlyle & Co., Asaya (A Rosewood Spa)
OwnerChow Tai Fook Enterprises
ParentChow Tai Fook Enterprises

Rosewood Hotel Group, previously identified as New World Hotel Group, New World Hospitality, and legally registered as New World Hotel Management (BVI) Limited and New World Hotel Management Limited, is a multinational hotel management enterprise headquartered in Hong Kong. It serves as the parent company of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, which was founded in 1979. Established offshore in the British Virgin Islands, the group was acquired in 2015 by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises from its publicly traded affiliate New World China Land for HK$1.96 billion.

Operating worldwide, the company manages several brands including New World, Rosewood, Carlyle & Co., Asaya (A Rosewood Spa), and previously KHOS (operational between 2017 and 2023, now rebranded as New World Hotels & Resorts). The group’s core business is hotel management services, with its equity valued at HK$1.934 billion as of March 2015.

Under the leadership of CEO Sonia Cheng, who is the daughter of Henry Cheng and granddaughter of the late Cheng Yu-tung—prominent figures within Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and New World Development—the Rosewood Hotel Group benefits from robust family ownership. Sonia Cheng assumed the role of executive vice-chairman at New World Hotel Management Limited in 2009 and was appointed executive director of New World China Land in 2010, placing her at the forefront of the group’s strategic direction.

Origins

The roots of New World Hospitality and New World Hotel Management can be traced to New World Hotel (later renamed Renaissance Kowloon Hotel), Hotel Victoria located in Shun Tak Centre, and the publicly listed real estate developer New World Development along with its subsidiaries New World Hotels (Holdings) and New World Hotels International Limited, which was incorporated in 1983. By 1987, The Harbour View Hotel (currently known as Renaissance Harbour View Hotel) was slated for management by New World Development through New World Hotels International.

After acquiring Ramada-Renaissance Hotels in 1989, New World Development formed its own hotel investment and management division.

During the 1990s, New World Development expanded its hotel management operations into Mainland China. By 1990, it oversaw six hotels on the Mainland: Jing-guang New World in Beijing, Yangtze New World in Shanghai, China Hotel in Guangzhou, Dragon Hotel in Hangzhou, Gui-shan Hotel in Guilin, and New World Dynasty Hotel in Xi'an. Presently, except for Jing-guang New World—which remains owned by NWD—the group no longer holds management contracts for these properties.

In 1995, NWD divided Renaissance Hotels into two entities: Hotel Property Investment (BVI) Limited, responsible for property holdings, and Renaissance Hotel Group N.V., which handled hotel management. New World Hotels International became a subsidiary under Renaissance Hotel Group, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange on September 27, 1995. Renaissance acquired minority stakes in New World Hotels International from individuals affiliated with NWD’s leadership.

In April 1997, Renaissance Hotel Group was sold for US$491 million (approximately HK$3.8 billion). The Hong Kong-registered New World Hotels International Limited was renamed Renaissance Hotels International Limited in 2005 and later RHIL Limited in 2007. Although NWD divested from Renaissance Hotels, two out of four hotels owned by New World China Land continued to be operated by Marriott International under the Courtyard brand as of 2003–04. The remaining two hotels were Mayfair Hotel Shanghai and New World Hotel Shenyang. Additionally, a strategic partnership with Marriott was established during 1997–98.

Management agreements for Courtyard hotels concluded between 2010 and 2011. During this period, Courtyard by Marriott Beijing transitioned to pentahotel Beijing (2010–11), while New World Courtyard Hotel Shunde was renamed New World Hotel Shunde. Both properties came under the management of New World Hotel Management, a division within NWD at that time.

New World Hotel Management

Around 2006, New World Development shifted its focus toward growing its hotel management division, targeting new properties under New World China Land (NWCL) as well as contracts approaching expiration. Established in Hong Kong in 2005, New World Hotel Management Limited served as the foundation.[1] Between August and November 2006, NWCL purchased a 65% interest in New World Hotel Management (BVI) Limited, the parent entity, for HK$1.404 million.[2] This ownership stake increased to 70.5% by February 2008,[3] and by January 2009, NWCL had obtained full control.[4] The remaining minority shareholder was William Doo, Jr., son of NWCL’s vice-chairman William Doo Wai-hoi.[5][3]

In January 2008, New World Hotel Management entered into a management agreement with its parent company, New World Development, to oversee operations at the Jing-Guang New World Hotel located in Jing Guang Centre, which was majority-owned by New World Development and its ultimate parent company, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.[3]

The BVI-based entity also held ownership of New World Hotel Management (Macau) Limited, which secured a decade-long management contract in June 2008 for the L'Arc New World Hotel Macau. This property was 40% owned by International Entertainment Corporation—a listed subsidiary of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises—but was not part of New World Development.[3][5]

October 2008 marked the introduction of the penta brand into Mainland China through the rebranding of Shanghai’s Mayfair Hotel as pentahotel Shanghai.[3]

By 2009, New World Hotel Management operated eight hotels under the New World brand across cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Macau, Dalian, Shenyang, Wuhan, Xi'an, and Ho Chi Minh City. The company adopted the tagline A New World of Difference to highlight its market differentiation.[6]

In 2011, trading as New World Hospitality, New World Hotel Management (BVI) Limited acquired luxury hotel operator Rosewood Hotels & Resorts for US$229.5 million (approximately HK$1.79 billion), encompassing all membership interests and intellectual property rights.[7][8]

By April 2013, the company announced plans to open four additional pentahotels across the Greater China region.[9]

Later that year in December 2013, New World Hotel Management (BVI) purchased the Pentahotels group from Chow Tai Fook Enterprises for €13.536 million (around HK$144.8 million), reinforcing its foothold in the midscale hotel sector.[10]

Also in 2013, the firm transitioned its brand identity from New World Hospitality to Rosewood Hotel Group to better reflect its expanding luxury portfolio.

Rosewood Hotel Group

Since adopting the Rosewood Hotel Group name in 2013, formerly known as New World Hotel Management, the company has grown through targeted acquisitions and collaborations. On 9 June 2014, it gained management rights for the New World Millennium Hong Kong Hotel via a joint venture with Millennium & Copthorne Hotels; this property was previously known as Hotel Nikko Hongkong and owned by a joint venture including Chow Tai Fook. Additionally, Rosewood announced plans for Rosewood Guangzhou in June 2014, scheduled to open in 2019 within the Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre.

In June 2014, Rosewood expanded into the Philippine market by signing a management contract for a hotel in Metro Manila that was known as AG New World Manila Bay Hotel by 2018.

In July 2015, New World China Land divested New World Hotel Management to its indirect parent company Chow Tai Fook Enterprises for HK$1.96 billion—1.5% above net asset fair value—despite the company having negative equity at that time. Subsequently, in 2016, New World China Land was privatized by New World Development. A master leasing agreement allowed Chow Tai Fook Enterprises to lease hotels from New World China Land until 2025 with an option to extend to 2035.

In November 2016, Rosewood Hong Kong collaborated with New World Development to occupy part of Victoria Dockside; designed by Tony Chi, this property opened in March 2019. In 2017, New World Development sold its Shanghai hotel assets—including New World Hotel Shanghai and pentahotel Shanghai—for RMB1.85 billion to William Doo Wai-hoi, vice-chairman of New World Development and relative of CEO Sonia Cheng. As of 2018, Rosewood Hotel Group continued managing these properties.

Rosewood also operates one of three hotels at Baha Mar Resort in Nassau, Bahamas—a large-scale resort acquired by parent company Chow Tai Fook Enterprises in 2016.

Although it sold its hotel management unit to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, as of March 2019 New World Development retained ownership of sixteen hotels such as Rosewood Phuket, Rosewood Hong Kong, Rosewood Beijing, pentahotel Hong Kong and Beijing among others managed under brands like Renaissance, Hyatt, and Novotel.

The brand portfolio under Rosewood Hotel Group comprises:

  • New World Hotels & Resorts
  • Rosewood Hotels & Resorts
  • Asaya, A Rosewood Spa
  • 'Carlyle & Co.
  • New World Hotels & Resorts (previously KHOS from 2017–2023)

These brands strategically position Rosewood across both luxury and lifestyle hospitality markets.

Chief Executive Officers

  1. Ray Wong (2005–2009)
  2. Sonia Cheng (since 2009)

New World

Rosewood

Highlighted locations include:

See also

External links

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named CR
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NWCL2007AR
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NWCL2008AR
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NWCL2009AR
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NWHMM
  6. ↑ China Daily
  7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named 2011pressrelease
  8. ↑ Bloomberg
  9. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named scmppenta
  10. ↑ HKEX
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