Le Méridien

Le Méridien
Subsidiary
Industry Hospitality
Founded 1972 (1972)
Founder Air France
Headquarters Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Number of locations
 112 hotels
Area served
 Worldwide
Parent Marriott International
Website le-meridien.marriott.com

Le Méridien is an upscale, design-focused international hotel brand with a European perspective, formerly headquartered in France and in the United Kingdom.

The brand was acquired by US-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 2005. Following the acquisition of Starwood by Marriott in 2015, it is now owned by Marriott International and has a portfolio of over 110 hotels.

History

Le Méridien Istanbul Etiler Hotel

Le Méridien was established as a brand in 1972 by Air France under a joint venture agreement "to provide on a home away from home for its customers."[1] The first Le Méridien property was a 1,000-room hotel in Paris — Le Méridien Etoile.[2] 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.[3] Through a merger in the summer of 2000 between Granada plc 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.[4] In December 2003, Lehman Brothers Holdings acquired the senior debt of Le Méridien.[5]

On November 24, 2005, the Le Méridien brand and management fee business was acquired by Starwood Capital Group.[1] The leased and owned real estate assets were acquired in a separate deal by a joint venture formed by Lehman Brothers and Starwood Capital.

References

  1. 1 2 "History of Le Méridien". www.starwoodhotels.com. Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
  2. ↑ "Paris Hotels: Le Méridien Etoile Reopens with a Splash". Bonjour Paris. 2016-09-26. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
  3. ↑ "Le Méridien History". Le Meridien Bangalore. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
  4. ↑ Osborne, Alistair (2001-05-26). "Le Meridien bought by Nomura from Compass for £1.9bn". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
  5. ↑ Macalister, Terry (2003-12-29). "Lehman finalises £700m Le Meridien rescue plan". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
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