Millennium & Copthorne Hotels


Millennium & Copthorne Hotels is a global hospitality management and real estate group, with 125 hotels in 22 countries in Asia, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. The company is headquartered in Singapore and London. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until it was acquired by City Developments Limited in September 2019. Millennium Hotels and Resorts operates the Lengs, M, Millennium and Copthorne hotel collections.

History

The Group's origins date to 1972 when British Caledonian Airways acquired the Copthorne Hotel at Copthorne, West Sussex, near Gatwick. The Copthorne Hotels brand was launched in 1985.
In 1989, Singapore-based CDL Hotels International acquired six hotels in Asia. In 1993, CDL made its first move outside Asia – purchasing the 548-room Gloucester Hotel and The Bailey's Hotel in London. In the same year CDL took control of a 13-hotel chain in New Zealand. In 1994, CDL made its entry into the US with the purchase of the Millennium Hilton New York Downtown in New York and acquired the Millennium Broadway in New York's Times Square district in December.
In 1995, CDL Hotels acquired Copthorne Hotels and the enlarged corporation became Millennium & Copthorne Hotels. The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.
In 1999, the company acquired Regal Hotels in the United States and in 2001 it expanded into the Middle East with several management contracts secured in the United Arab Emirates. The first of six new hotels in China opened in 2008.
In 2015, the group announced four new hotels to open in Dubai. Still in 2015, the group's financial results slightly declined due to troubled events affecting tourism worldwide which led to the resignation of its CEO Aloysius Lee. Tan Kian Seng began serving as the interim CEO after Jennifer Fox stepped down as the group's CEO in September 2018, just three months after her appointment. Clarence Tan was appointed CEO of Millennium and Copthorne Hotels in March 2020, and left the role in July 2020 four months after his appointment.
In May 2020, Millennium & Copthorne announced 910 job losses from its 20 hotels in New Zealand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In reaction to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Millennium and Copthorne Hotels created the We Clean We Care We Welcome Global Safety Commitment.

Ownership

In June 2019 the company's board agreed to recommend a takeover offer, valuing the business at £2.23 billion, from City Developments Limited for the shares it does not already own. The transaction became unconditional in September 2019.